Pokemon Legend
by Raikou Ryu
Summary: One of the most incredible fanfics around (Well, out of every one I've written). The creative minds of two writers comes together to bring you their greatest feat. Behold, the Pokemon Legend. Reviews would be greatly appreciated.
1. Dark Soul: Prologue to Pokemon Legend

Just a note, as obvious as it is. I don't own Pokemon. I own Ryan Lachlan,   
Tsuki Tenshi owns Samantha, Umi Tenshi owns Kit, and other random new characters just don't  
really matter. The mood changes constantly, like the authors of this fic, so I'm sure it will cater to  
most tastes. Enjoy.   
  
Due to unfortunate occurances, there are now only two writers working on this fic. But, Tsuki Tenshi and I, along with Umi Tenshi, will continue to bring you chapters and interludes about the lives of our characters. Once again, enjoy.  
  
  
  
  
Pokemon Legend  
Prologue  
Dark Soul  
  
In a dark room, the only illumination coming from a dim lamp in the corner, two  
figures sat; one in a chair, and one on the carpeted floor. The first was a young man with  
dark brown hair, cold ice blue eyes, and a face that hardly ever showed any emotion. The  
latter was a pokemon, a houndoom. He had fur darker than the blackest pitch and the  
bones adorning his body were an ash grey. The young man was called Ryan Lachlan. He  
was the Pokemon League Master and had authority even over Lance the Dragon Master.  
Now, only the bravest trainers dared enter the Pokemon League Competition. Last year,  
one boy had come close to facing him. Ash Ketchum was his name. He remembered  
befriending this boy and his friends a long time ago, as well as a few other trainers, but  
their names escaped him now. There was talk throughout the League that he had beaten  
Drake in the Orange League and was the bane of Team Rocket. There were even rumours  
that he had saved the world from the wrath of the three legendary birds, Articuno, Zapdos,  
and Moltres, and had even saved the town of Greenfield from some pokemon called  
unown.  
  
His mind wandered back to thoughts of Team Rocket. He had been a part of them  
once. After his parents were killed in a fire, he did what he had to do to survive, even if it  
meant turning to a life of crime. Giovanni, the leader of the Viridian City Gym and secret  
leader of Team Rocket took him in and trained him to become a member of the criminal  
organization. He was given everything he needed or wanted in exchange for his services.  
At the age of thirteen he was one of the most successful members. But, when Team  
Rocket began to get weak, and he realized what he and his pokemon were capable of, he  
turned and walked away. He didn't know where he was going, only that he would get  
there only by trusting in his pokemon and they in him. Years passed, gym leaders  
surrendered their badges, and he and his pokemon began to lose all emotion. Soon, the  
only thing that could bring a smile to his face would be his wooper, it's adorable face  
even now running through his head. The only other thing that would make him smile  
would be the occasional joke from one of his friends.  
  
Two years ago, just after he turned eighteen, he beat Lance and became the Pokemon  
League Master. By then, his pokemon had become just as unemotional as him. They had  
even changed into a darker shade of their natural colours. They had become just as  
uncaring as him, not even caring if another pokemon got hurt. All they truly cared about  
were each other and themselves. The family of eleven cared for and took care of each  
other and nobody else. Ryan, Houndoom, Skarmory, Tyranitar, Feraligatr, Girafarig,  
Jolteon, Umbreon, Misdreavus, Murkrow, and Wooper were a family, now and  
forever.  
  
He looked out the window at the Moon, which was only now making its presence  
from behind the clouds. He had slept with Houndoom and sometimes his other pokemon  
many nights under that moon, sometimes even training under it. That training brought his  
pokemon to victory.  
  
He thought about that promising young trainer; how different the two were at the  
same age. He hadn't been that happy with his life since he got his houndour when he was  
ten, but this boy Ash seemed happy with his life all of the time. He had lost his friends  
when he joined Team Rocket, and only bothered to make friends with Xander and Camry when he realized he couldn't get rid of them.  
Now, the Elite Four were the closest he had to friends, next to his pokemon, his family.  
  
Friends, that was what he had left behind. The memory of a friend drifted from  
the back of his mind. Samantha was her name. And he would always remember his first true friend, Nurse Joy of the Viridian City pokemon center. There were two others, Xander and Camry, but they left the group to be alone together. He had traveled with  
Xander, Camry, and their pokemon for most of his journey. After he had nearly beaten Lance  
when he was seventeen, he decided to stay at Indigo Plateau to train. His friend left with three other trainers. She left him there to train his pokemon and himself. He never heard from any of them again.  
Because his dark heart usually shunned friendship, he was lucky to have friends as great  
as those. Why didn't he stay with them? He lost all but his pokemon, fame, and power by  
staying at the Plateau. Now he was even growing farther and farther apart from the Elite  
Four.  
  
When his pokemon lost all emotion, they completely lost all care for others not of  
that dark family. In doing so, they often went too far in battle, not showing any mercy at  
all. Even Lance was disturbed by his pokemon's fighting, saying it was cruel and  
inhuman.. During one tournament, a machamp was almost killed because Houndoom's  
horns had impaled it. Neither he nor Houndoom cared; after all, it was victory. Everyone  
who knew about pokemon knew about him. Some feared him, some despised him, some  
admired him, and Team Rocket began to base their fighting skills on his.  
  
Why didn't he have better control over his life? How could he let himself and his  
pokemon twist and tumble down the endless spiral of darkness and chaos that he so  
eagerly dove into. Why couldn't he have been more like Ash? So much caring for his  
family, his friends, his pokemon, his life.  
  
His journey through his mind was suddenly interrupted by a knock on the door.  
Expecting the visitor to be one of the Elite Four, he said, "Come in." he twisted a knob  
on the lamp and the room grew brighter. The door opened quietly, revealing a young  
woman with shoulder length blond hair. Her beautiful face was eerily familiar to him, but  
where and when had he last seen it? Who was this woman who would even bother to visit  
him?  
  
"Hello, Rai-kun." she said in her soft voice. "Long time no see." Only one person had  
ever called him that.  
  
"Sam?" He stared in disbelieving shock at his friend who had suddenly decided to  
pay him a visit. After three years, he thought none of his old friends cared anymore. But  
here she was, standing in his doorway.  
  
"It's been three years since we parted ways. Did you think we had forgotten about  
you? Tell me the truth." she asked, coming into the dimly lit room.  
  
"Yes." he replied. "After a year though, I stopped caring. But for that year, I blamed  
myself for our separation."  
  
"I'm sorry. I should have stayed with you, like a true friend."  
  
"No, it's my fault. I should have gone with you, instead of being selfish."  
  
"It's okay now. Why don't you leave the League and join us again?"  
  
"It's too late. I don't deserve to be called your friend anymore. Besides, people are  
afraid of me. The only place I belong anymore is in the League."  
  
"But if you come with us you can go back to the way you were before; maybe even be  
happy with your life. Here you're just wasting your life and your pokemon's lives. Think  
back and remember how happy you were with your pokemon. Remember how happy  
they were. Now, think about how depressed and uncaring you all are now. Even  
Houndoom is miserable."  
  
He looked over at his long time companion and looked into those familiar purple eyes.  
They seemed sad and deprived of all joy. Houndoom didn't even enjoy combat anymore.  
He always made his pokemon use their most powerful attacks at the beginning of the  
match. Samantha was right. Why couldn't he be the way he was when he younger? What  
had gone so horribly wrong to make him and his pokemon change so drastically? He  
thought back to earlier times, when things were different; when he cared. 


	2. The Final Gym

Pokemon Legend  
Part 1: The Final Gym  
  
It was a dark, cold, and dreary May evening, and the full moon was hanging in the  
night sky. Everyone was asleep now, except for two dark figures sitting on a cliff. One of  
the figures was a young man, the other, his pokemon companion. Ryan Lachlan was a  
pokemon trainer, but not your average pokemon trainer. The bond he had with his prized  
pokemon, Houndour, was so strong, that they understood each and every word that the  
other said. The boy and his pokemon had so much in common, it was as if they were  
brothers. They were both tough, dark, mysterious, and completely unpredictable. Not  
even their friends, Camry Ikazuchi and Xander Richmond could understand them at  
times. Ryan was 16, 5'8" tall and had dark brown hair that went down to his collar. He  
wasn't very athletic, but was still in excellent shape. His eyes were ice blue and he could  
strike fear into almost anyone, just by glaring at them. That was another quality he shared  
with his Houndour. Ryan's houndour had the usual black fur, the bones  
adorning his head, back, and legs were a dull gray, and his eyes were a ghostly dark purple. His   
howl could send shivers down the spines of humans and pokemon alike. Ryan and  
Houndour were an unstoppable team and no one could come between them. Although the  
pair may have seemed to be completely independent, they still valued the friendship of  
other pokemon, as well as Xander and Camry.  
  
Xander, like Ryan, was in good shape, but didn't exercise much. His hair was jet  
black and also fell down to his collar, perfectly complimenting his taste in dark clothes.  
He was a bit taller than Ryan at 5'11", although at the same age as him, and he had dark  
brown eyes. He had a long kitana with a Gyarados for a hilt, and used it very well. His  
pokemon companion was his Squirtle, but he also had an attachment to his Cyndaquil  
and his Snorlax.   
  
Camry, like the other two was also 16, but was shorter than Ryan at 5'6"  
and her eyes were bright green. Her light brown hair fell half way down her back and she  
loved to wear bright clothing. Her favorite pokemon was her Vulpix. One thing remained  
the same about all three teenagers; they always kept the pokemon they were most  
attached with out of their pokeballs at all times. Xander and Camry also seemed to have an emotional   
relationship with each other.  
  
"Look at that moon Houndour." Ryan said, his hand resting on his partner's head.  
  
"Hound." Houndour barked.  
  
"Ya know, even before I met you I used to stay out all night sometimes and look at  
the Moon. It's always given me the inspiration I needed and the courage to do what I  
needed to do. It helps me to think too." he explained to his companion.  
  
"Dour?" whined the dog-like pokemon.  
  
"Yeah. I thought you could use it tonight. We've got a big challenge tomorrow my  
friend. Claire of the Blackthorn City Gym is supposed to be a really excellent trainer. We  
have to win this battle so that we can enter the pokemon league. But we can do it right?"  
said the young man.  
  
"Houndour! Hound!" he agreed. The duo sat there until the sun started to rise over the  
mountains, and only headed back to the pokemon center in Blackthorn City after they  
had eaten breakfast.  
  
"Ryan! Where were you all night?" asked Camry, as Ryan and Houndour walked in  
the door of the pokemon center.  
  
"Nowhere in particular. Houndour and I were just hangin' around." he replied.  
  
"Well, are you ready to take on Clair?" queried Xander.  
  
"Squirtle. Squirt!" chimed Xander's Squirtle.  
  
"Definitely." he answered.  
  
"Houndour." Ryan's companion barked.  
  
"Alright then, let's go!" Camry said.  
  
The inside of the gym was filled with statues of dragon pokemon and there were two  
pools; one on each side of the gym. The floor was covered with blue tiles, and the only  
lights in the room were several torches, lining a red carpet that lead to Clair, the gym  
leader. The group of six marched down the red carpet and stopped in front of the gym  
leader. She looked up from a book she was reading and looked Ryan straight in the eyes  
with her own cold, gray eyes. Her eyes seemed to have a startling effect on Ryan, because  
he glared right back at her, declaring his challenge.  
  
"I presume you are here for a pokemon match. Is that true?" she asked.  
  
"Yes. I am Ryan Lachlan." he replied.  
  
"And I'm Xander Richmond." Xander added.  
  
"Professor Elm's assistants? Well, it looks like I might have a challenge. I'm very  
pleased to meet you." Clair said. Standing up, Clair took Ryan's hand in hers and said,  
"It's good to know that I'm not the only one with a dark personality. You may come with  
me, but your friend must stay here."  
  
"Why?" cried Camry.  
  
"Because, I'm taking them to a special arena. Follow me, Ryan, Xander." she said,  
calmly.  
  
"Don't worry. We'll be back. With the badges. C'mon you three." Ryan said,  
following Clair, who was now walking towards the back of the room. "We will win."  
  
"Houndour." he snarled, following Ryan. At the back of the room was a large, steel  
door. Claire took a key from her necklace and unlocked the door, then silently walked  
through. The two pokemon trainers and their companions followed the Blackthorn City  
gym leader out of the gym, and into a boat, which took them to a cave. At the end of the  
cave was a small arena and a shrine with a dragon statue in front of it.  
  
"This cave is known as the Dragon's Den." Clair said. "I come here all the time to  
train. One day I hope to as great a dragon master as Lance."  
  
"But you said this place is a secret. Why bring us here for the match?" questioned  
Xander.  
  
"Because the two of you are great researchers and explorers. You've discovered most  
of the new species of pokemon over the last year. You even discovered my favorite  
pokemon, Kingdra." she explained.  
  
"Can we get on with the battle?" asked Ryan.  
  
"Hound." the canine pokemon growled.  
  
"Fine. Who will go first?" asked Clair.  
  
"I will." said Xander.  
  
"Very well. Both will be two on two matches." she stated. "My first pokemon will be  
Dragonair"  
  
"My first will be Ampharos." Both trainers stepped onto the mini arena and called out  
their pokemon.  
  
"Go, Dragonair!" the gym leader shouted.  
  
"I choose you Ampharos!" called the young man. Both creatures appeared  
simultaneously in a flash of red light, and the battle for the badge began.  
  
"Dragonair, start things off with an ice beam!" she ordered.  
  
"Ampharos, dodge the beam and hit the dragonair with a thunderbolt!" Xander  
commanded. The long, winding dragon pokemon unleashed a powerful ice beam, but  
Xander's ampharos was prepared and easily dodged it, returning with a stunning blast of  
electricity. Soon, the pokemon match turned into a raging battle, with both pokemon  
exchanging vicious blows. Finally, one of the combatants fell. Claire's dragonair hit the  
ground with a loud thud and she returned it.  
  
"You may have beaten my Dragonair, but I still have Kingdra." she growled,  
throwing out another pokeball.  
  
"You did a good job, Ampharos. You deserve a rest." the challenger said, returning  
his pokemon to the ball. "Go Snorlax!" Xander tossed out his second pokeball and his  
snorlax appeared seconds later. Snorlax was wide awake, unlike usual.  
  
"This should be a breeze." Claire said with a snicker. To everyone's surprise, the  
ponderous pokemon quickly got up and began the match by grabbing it's opponent and  
unleashing a powerful seismic toss.  
  
"Xander, did you give Snorlax coffee again this morning?" Ryan queried.  
  
"Umm, yeah." he replied.  
  
"Dour." Houndour sighed, blowing out a small fireball. In the center of the arena,  
Snorlax was beating Kingdra down with a flurry of mega punches, but soon got tired and  
collapsed on the helpless dragon pokemon.  
  
"Snorlax, return." Xander called.  
  
"Well. It seems that I underestimated your snorlax. Kingdra, take a break." the leader  
said, returning her kingdra to it's pokeball.  
  
"My turn!" Ryan chimed. "Let's do this, Houndour." Ryan and Xander switched  
places on the arena and Houndour sprang to the middle of the field.  
  
"Go Dragonair." the dragon trainer cried. "Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, I have three  
dragonairs." Another, battle ready dragon appeared on the field, and Claire gave the first  
command. "Dragonair, hit it with a dragon breath attack!"  
  
"Houndour, counter it with a flamethrower and crunch it." Both pokemon unleashed  
devastating blasts of fire, but they exploded on contact with each other, sending both  
combatants flying backwards. The fiery canine hastily got up and dashed towards the  
stunned dragon. He bit into his scaly foe and it shrieked in pain, writhing and twisting,  
trying to shake off its attacker. "Houndour, finish it with a fire blast attack!"  
  
"Houndour!" he replied, spitting the burst of fire at the dragon. The dragonair, unable  
to dodge fast enough, was hit by the attack and was blown back several feet, now lying  
unconcious on the ground. Houndour cried in triumph as Claire returned her fallen  
dragon to its ball. The dark pokemon began to glow brightly, then grew in size and  
changed shape. The glow faded, revealing a new houndoom.  
  
"Houndour! You evolved!" cried Ryan.  
  
"I suppose you'll be using him for the next match." the gym leader said, releasing her  
final pokemon.  
  
"You bet." said the trainer. "Houndoom, start things off with a shadow ball attack."  
Houndoom spat a dark ball of energy at the final dragonair, completely taking it by  
surprise. The dragon dodged and its trainer said, "Hit it with a hyper beam!"  
  
"Houndoom, use fire blast and hyper beam!" commanded Ryan. He did as was told  
and both shots collided, creating an explosion that filled the field. When the smoke  
cleared, Houndoom was still standing, but the dragonair was lying in a pathetic heap on  
the ground. The canine pokemon wobbled for a few seconds and promtly fell over.  
"Houndoom, no!" For the first time ever, Ryan pulled out an unused pokeball and put his  
pokemon inside. "Sorry."  
  
"I knew it couldn't withstand the explosion." said Claire. She tossed Ryan and  
Xander their badges and said, "C'mon, we have to get our pokemon to the Pokemon  
Center."  
  
They picked up Camry and Vulpix along the way, then headed toward the Pokemon  
Center.  
  
"Here you go." Nurse Joy said, after the pokemon were healed. Ryan let Houndoom  
out of his pokeball and put the pokeball back into his backpack.  
  
"Those two are incredible with pokemon." said the gym leader. "Ryan was able to  
control his houndoom right after it evolved, and Xander beat Kingdra with a snorlax."  
  
"That's excellent." said the nurse. "I'm sure you two will go far. Good luck in the  
league tournament."  
  
"Thanks Nurse Joy." said Xander.  
  
"C'mon guys, we've gotta make it back to New Bark Town." Ryan said happily.  
  
"Ryan's happy?" Xander said, raising an eyebrow.  
  
"Creepy." said Camry.  
  
"Let's go!" the excited pokemon trainer cried. "We've got to stock up on supplies,  
train, then it's off to the Pokemon League Tournament!" Both Ryan and Houndoom  
dashed out of the building, heading down the road to New Bark Town.  
  
The next day, The gang was making great time, and it looked like they would be at  
their destination before dark.  
  
"At this pace, we'll be back in no time." said Camry.  
  
"Right. We'll have lots of time for extra training when we get back." said Xander.  
  
It was then that they heard a loud rumbling noise. The ground began to shake, the  
sounds of a hoard of angry creatures and a girl's screams filled the air, and a cloud of  
dust rose from the path ahead.  
  
"What's that?" cried Camry.  
  
To Be Continued 


	3. Enter the Pokemon League

Pokemon Legend   
Part II  
Enter the Pokemon League  
  
  
"Sounds like someone's in trouble." Xander told her. Then, without warning, Ryan dashed off in the direction of the cloud. As he got closer, he saw that there was really someone in trouble. Behind the screaming girl was a pack of furious primeapes, and they were gaining on her. Letting his anger fuel him, Ryan continued to race towards the girl and tackled the closest one to her. The other primeapes skidded to a stop when they saw what had happened to their friend. He saw the girl hide behind a tree, then focused his attention to the angry pokemon. A very large primeape stepped forward and looked him over with its bloodshot eyes. One of the smaller primeape began to step forward as well, but the larger one sent it flying. The others quickly backed off, leaving just Ryan, the large primeape, and the smaller unconscious one on the road.  
  
"You wanna fight huh?" Ryan said, grinning. It nodded and went into its stance. Ryan went into his own stance and said, "Ikuyo." The Primeape chuckled, and the rest of the primeape laughed along too, while Ryan, getting impatient, grew red with anger. Ryan yelled a scream of pure rage and charged the main Primeape. "ARGGGGHH!!!" Ryan screamed, running full blow into the Primeape, knocking it back only 2 feet. "Uh-oh. I think I'm a bit overpowered." Meanwhile, Xander and Camry were gradually walking toward the situation.  
  
"Hungry? Tired? Need a break?" Xander asked Camry.   
  
"No, not really." she said.  
  
"Aren't you even the slightest bit worried about Ryan's well-being?!?" Xander smirked.  
  
"Nah, I know Ryan should be able to take care of himself. Maybe. Ok, not really."  
  
Back at the fight, Samantha (our used to be damsel in distress) was now hiding behind a tree trying to convince her Jiggypuff to sing its heart out.  
  
"Come on, come on, you can do it. It's not hard" The little pink Pokemon shook its little pink head wildly.  
  
"Jiggly." She said tearfully. Samantha sighed in frustration.  
  
"IT'S NOT THAT BIG OF A DEAL, IT'S JUST A PRIMEAPE!!!" she shrieked. The Jigglypuff cowered away.  
  
"Jigglypuff, jiggly jiggly."  
  
"Aaaahhhhhh!!!!!" Ryan screamed, as he flew through the air.  
  
"That's gotta hurt." said Xander, wincing at the hit. Ryan landed on the ground with a loud thud. He rolled along the ground for several feet, crashing into the tree that Sam and her jigglypuff were hiding behind, with a sickening snap.  
  
"JUST SING ALREADY!!!" she screamed.  
  
"Jigglypuff." She said, pulling out her microphone. Jigglypuff's mind numbing melody floated through the air, sending everyone in the vicinity, excluding Ryan, who was already unconscious, into a deep sleep.  
  
"Good for you, JigglyPuff." Samantha said as she dropped off, too.  
  
Squirtle slowly opened his eyes behind his squirtle shades, looking around at the sleeping bodies laying on the ground around him.  
  
"Squirtle?" he said, running over to Xander and shaking him.  
  
"Huh? Wha? Where, who, what? Huh?" Xander said sleepily. The Squirtle pointed over at Camry, who was peacefully sleeping nearby. Ryan still lay at the base of the tree, his arm twisted at an impossible angle. Samantha was sleeping under the tree, her Jigglypuff sitting with a haughty look on her face. Xander blinked a few times, then stood. "Camry? Wake up!!!" he shouted, shaking her wildly. Camry woke up and began panicking.  
  
"What? What is it?!?!" she screamed, flailing her arms around. Ryan let out a moan of pure pain, trying to sit up.  
  
"ARRGGHHH!!!!" he screamed, looking around. "Where did that Primeape go?!" He asked, turning to Xander. Xander shrugged.  
  
"I don't know. I was sleeping." He said. Camry was looking over at the Jigglypuff in fear.  
  
"You aren't going to sing again, are you?" She asked softly. The Jigglypuff began to try and wake up its master.  
  
"Jiggly! Jigglypuff! Jigglypuff, puff puff!" Jigglypuff went flying as Samantha sat up, batting the pink pokemon as she began screaming.  
  
"PRIMEAPE!!! OH NO, EVERYBODY RUN!!!!!!!!" she screamed, getting up and running away. The others just sat there, blinking, twitching, wondering why this crazy girl was running away from her own jigglypuff.  
  
"Uh, what's wrong with her?" Xander asked. The jigglypuff was tapping its foot, waiting. A few seconds later, Sam came running back.  
  
"Uh, I'm sorry about that. I thought that there was a Primeape, instead of my Jigglypuff."  
  
"Uh, yeah, we know." Ryan said, holding his arm. He stood slowly and looked over at Samantha. "Well, I tried to stop the primeape."  
  
"Well, at least HE tried to stop it." Camry growled at Xander. Xander laughed pathetically and slumped down. All of a sudden, the famous and unmistakable music of Team Rocket played in the sky.  
  
"To protect the world from devastation." Jesse said.  
  
"To unite all people within our nation." James added.  
  
"To denounce the evils of truth and love."  
  
"To extend our reach to the stars above."  
  
"Jesse!"  
  
"James!"  
  
"Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light."  
  
"Surrender now or prepare to fight, fight, fight, fight."  
  
"Magikarp karp karp karp karp karp karp karp karp karp KAAAARP!!!!"  
  
"DANNY!!!! Would you get your stupid magikarp back in its pokeball already; it's disrupting our motto!!" Jesse screamed up at the Meowth shaped balloon in the sky. A large figure leaned over the side of the balloon.  
  
"Sorry Jesse, but Chris threw it out of the balloon while I was playing with it." Soon another figure appeared beside the first one screaming, "BWA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!! EAT MAGIKARP, FOOLS!!" Jesse looked over at James and sighed.  
  
"Now Jesse?"   
  
"Yes James, now." And with that final word they fell flat on their faces into the ground.  
  
"Who are these clowns?" Samantha asked.  
  
"Ugh! Don't you know they're the infamous and very evil Team Ocket?" Xander replied. Jesse came running at Xander, swinging a hammer over her head and screaming, "THAT'S ROCKET WITH AN R, YOU BAKA!!" Flashing his sword at the furious Team Rocket member, she stopped dead in her tracks. "Never mind."  
  
"Why exactly are you bothering us?" Ryan queried.  
  
"We're here to steal your Houndoom and Squirtle." answered Jesse. "And maybe even you. You're kinda cute." Ryan began to fume in anger at Jesse's statement.  
  
"And no one can stop Team Rocket." chimed a Meowth beside the blue haired Rocket. With that, the balloon lowered to the ground and all three hopped in. It flew back up into the sky and what looked to be a large vacuum came out of the bottom.  
  
"How exactly do they have room for a giant vaccuum and all of those people in that basket?" Camry asked.  
  
"Beats me." responded Xander. Meanwhile, Danny's Magikarp was still flopping around on the ground, oblivious to what was going on.  
  
"Hey, Dan. What about Magikarp?" Chris asked him.  
  
"Oh, right! Magikarp, return." he said, holding up a pokeball.  
  
"Are you quite finished?" questioned an annoyed Jesse.  
  
"Yeah." the two rookies said in unison.  
  
"Meowth, turn it on." she commanded.  
  
"Right o!" he said, flipping a switch. The machine started to whir, then the giant vacuum began to suck things in. Being so light, Jigglypuff was the first to start flying. That problem however, was quickly solved by Ryan's Girafarig. Squirtle was clinging to Xander's leg in hopes of safety, and Camry had her arms wrapped around her Vulpix.  
  
"I've had enough of these guys. Houndoom, use fire blast." Ryan ordered. Houndoom let loose with a devastating blast of fire that hit the vaccuum dead on. It exploded, sending the Team Rocket members flying off into the distance.  
  
"It looks like Team Rocket's flying off again!" cried Chris and Danny.  
  
"That's blasting off again, you idiots!" yelled Jesse and James.  
  
"Blasting... Off... Again. Gotcha." replied Chris, taking down notes on his notepad. The group of teens and their pokemon watched as the Rockets disappeared into the horizon.  
  
"Now, where were we before that unfortunate disturbance?" asked Camry.  
  
"I think we were on our way back to New Bark Town." said Xander.  
  
"Squirtle." the turtle pokemon said in agreement.  
  
"Really? I'm on my way there too." chimed Sam. "Are you going to enter the Pokemon League Tournament?"  
  
"Uh huh." said Xander.  
  
"Then I'm coming with you!" she cried.  
  
"Great, that's all I need. First I meet Xander, then he invites his girlfriend to come with us, and now this hyperactive psychopath and her cowardly jigglypuff. Oh, what fun." Ryan grumbled. Then he thought to himself, "Kind of makes me wish I was still in Team Rocket."  
  
"What was that?" she growled.  
  
"Don't mind him. He likes to be by himself a lot." explained Xander.  
  
"Oh."  
  
"C'mon guys." Ryan sighed. "We've got to make it into town before dark."  
  
"Why?" Samantha questioned.  
  
"That's when all of the dark type pokemon come out." he told her. "You've never seen a pack of ravenous houndour, have you?"  
  
"Nope."  
  
"Trust me, you don't want to." Growing impatient, Houndoom shot a large ball of fire at Ryan, completely roasting him. "Right. We should go."  
  
So, the large group finally continued on their way back to New Bark Town. They arrived just as the sun was setting and decided to go home for the night. Sam, not actually coming from the town, stayed at Camry's house for the night.  
  
The next morning, they wasted no time in leaving. They quickly stocked up on the supplies they needed, ate breakfast, and said goodbye to their friends and family. They were traveling down the river in no time, with a crowd of people still waving to them from land.  
  
"Look out Elite Four, cause here we come!" cried Xander.  
  
"Xander, how many cups of coffee did you have before we met up with you this morning?" Camry asked.  
  
"This many!" he replied, holding up five fingers.  
  
"Let's see. Five cups before breakfast, plus another three at breakfast, and not to mention the chocolate chip pancakes covered in jam and syrup. Wow, he's gonna be like this all day." said Ryan.  
  
"Is that a bad thing?" questioned Sam. Ryan, Camry, Vulpix, and Houndoom nodded in affirmation. Squirtle would've as well, but he was too busy spinning around in his shell like a pinball. "How many cups did Squirtle have?"  
  
"Four in total." replied Xander, twitching in an inhuman fashion.  
  
"Oh man." Ryan groaned.  
  
The group finally arrived at their destination, the entrance to Victory Road. Straight ahead of them was the entrance to the cave, to their right was the path to Kanto, and to their left was the path to the Mount Silver Caves.  
  
"Hey." Ryan thought. "There are Larvitar in the Mount Silver Caves. I have to catch one." he immediately began a mad dash towards the mountain, running as fast as his legs would take him.  
  
"Ryan, where are you going?" cried Sam.  
  
"I'm going hunting." he shouted back. "I'll meet you at Indigo Plateau. Houndoom, let's go!"  
  
"Doom!" he said, charging after his friend.  
  
"Whatever. C'mon you five, we have to get through this cave." said Xander.  
  
"But what about those two?" queried Camry.  
  
"They'll be fine by themselves. What are the chances of them running into those Primape again?" he responded.  
  
"Well, okay."   
  
The six remaining members of the group continued on their trek into and through Victory Road. Fortunately for them, there were torches lining the path, but, unfortunately there were trainers everywhere to challenge them. The group of trainers tried their best to sneak past them, failing horribly as Xander kept screaming, "I'll fight you, and you too,! ALL OF YOU AT ONCE! BWA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!" Everyone sweatdropped and facefaulted. One trainer decided to take this yelling and screaming as a challenge and ran over to battle Xander.  
  
"Hey there, wanna battle?"  
  
"FINALLY! but you know, I'm just as good as I look." Xander said.  
  
"If only." Camry muttered.  
  
"If only you looked as well as you battle."  
  
"BAKA!" Camry yelled, as she pulled a hammer from her interdemensional locker and smashed Xander over the head.  
  
"YEOUCH!" Xander screamed, as he held his head in pain.  
  
The battle started with the trainer pulling out a pokeball and yelling, "Go, Machop!" as he threw the pokeball into the fighting circle.  
  
"BWA HA HA HA HA! I could beat that thing with one Hitmonchan behind my back. In fact, I think I will!!" Xander said. He pulled out a pokeball and threw it into the circle. "Hitmonchan, I choose you! But not you Ampharos, maybe next time though." The battle began.  
  
"Machop, seismic toss, now!!" the trainer cried, and Machop started towards Hitmonchan.  
  
"Hitmonchan, Mega Punch!!" Xander said, flailing his arms around.  
  
"Monchan." the pokemon replied, countering the attack that the Machop launched.  
  
"HA HA HA HA!!" four voices cried suddenly.  
  
"Oh no, not again!" Samantha cried.  
  
"We are here to steal your pokemon!" Danny said.  
  
"Let's hope Duo and Heero don't interfere again." Chris said, looking around nervously. Jesse turned to him slowly.  
  
"WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT, YOU DIMWIT! WE'RE GOING TO STEAL POKEMON, NOT FIGHT GUNDAM PILOTS!!" she shrieked. Xander clapped his hands.  
  
"Oh boy, now I can fight Team Ocket too! Yay!" he said happily.  
  
"DON'T START AGAIN YOU FOOL! IT'S TEAM ROCKET!!" Chris said. Jesse looked at him.  
  
"Chris, I'm impressed."  
  
"AHHHH!!! GUNDAMS!!!" Chris jumped and hid behind Jesse.  
  
"Oh, boy." sighed James. Meanwhile, the trainer whom Xander was about to fight had gotten frightened by Team Rocket and had walked away unnoticed.  
  
"Can't you just leave us alone?" asked Camry.  
  
"Not until we steal your Squirtle and Houndoom." said Jesse. "Speaking of which, where is that cute guy you hang around with and his pokemutt?"  
  
"He went to catch a pokemon." explained Sam. "He should be back soon."  
  
"Someone mention me?" called a voice.  
  
"Ryan!" cried Xander. "Whoa!! What happened to you?" Ryan and Houndoom walked up to them, all battered and bruised, and Ryan clutching his sprained arm. A trickle of blood could be seen seeping through the cracks between his fingers.  
  
"I found out something very important." he began. "If you find a pokemon that's not the right color, make sure that you can catch it before you piss it off."  
  
"What exactly did you run into?" questioned Sam.  
  
"Golden misdreavus." he groaned, falling to the ground.  
  
"He fainted." stated Danny.  
  
"No, ya think?" Chris asked sarcastically.  
  
"What're we waitin for?" chimed Meowth. "Let's steal Houndoom and Squirtle while those nutcases are helping him."  
  
"Right. Get the..." James yelled but was interrupted by Chris throwing a pokeball.  
  
"Go Magikarp!!!" Chris cried.  
  
"Hey, that's my magikarp!" Danny wailed. Chris just laughed.  
  
"Will you two just STOP PLAYING AROUND?!" Jesse shrieked.  
  
"Hey!" All of the members of Team Rocket turned to see Samantha standing there with her Charizard behind her. "Do you really want to make me use this thing?"  
  
"You wouldn't dare." Jesse replied.  
  
"Try me, you old bat!!" Sam yelled back.  
  
"Aunty Jesse is not an old bat!" Chris wailed.  
  
"Why thank you Chris." Jesse said.  
  
"Bats only live up to seven years. They can't get old, can they?" Chris continued. A stress mark appeared on Jesse's forehead and she pulled out her mallet, smashing Chris over the head.   
  
"AHHHHH!!!!!! Get it away!!" he screamed.  
  
"Why you little... Go Arbok!!" The two of them ran off, Jesse screaming at the top of her lungs and Chris yelling for help.  
  
"Charizard!"  
  
"NO! PLEASE, SPARE ME!!!" James screamed. Danny nodded his head vigorously.  
  
"Flamethrower, NOW!" Sam yelled. Still unaware of the incoming danger, Danny's Magikarp still stayed flopping around.  
  
"KARP KARP KARP KARP KARP KARP KARRRRRRRRRP!!!" it yelled as it was engulfed in a pure flame.  
  
"Wow, she's kinda cute when she uses that Charizard of hers." Xander commented.  
  
"Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr." Camry growled as she smacked Xander over the head with a big mallet.   
  
"Only when I use my Charizard? How insulting!" Charizard blew fire at him while Samantha fumed.  
  
"OUCH!! Burn." Xander replied, quite toasted by now.  
  
"Literally." Ryan laughed, as he sat up. "Hahahahaha! Burn... Funny." He fell backwards again and looked up. "Hate... Misdreavus... Big, golden, evil misdreavus... Ow..." He got up painfully, looking around. "Hey, what's going on?"  
  
"Stay still!!! Once I get my hands on you, I'll... ARGHH!!!!!" Jesse shrieked as she ran past, still chasing Chris. Danny was whimpering as he rescued his fried Magikarp.  
  
"Koishii." he cooed. The Magikarp flopped around, oblivious to everything.  
  
"SHUT UP!!!" Everything ceased. All the people in the area turned to see Ryan standing there, twitching. "Thank you. Go, Larvitar!" he yelled, throwing his pokeball.  
  
"Go, Weezing!" James yelled, also throwing a pokeball. His Weezing let out a fowl cloud, obstructing everyone's vision. "Let's go, we've had enough screwups for today, Jesse."  
  
"No, wait! I still have to... Larvitar, sandstorm!" The smoke cleared quickly, and Team Rocket could be seen floating away in their balloon.  
  
"Bye Bye, cutie!" Jesse called.  
  
"Ta ta, twerps. We'll be back for your Houndoom and Squirtle!" James cried, waving.  
  
"FOOLS!!!!" Chris screamed, leaning over the edge of the balloon and almost falling out. "EEE!" he cried, waving his arms around.  
  
"Save me, Danny!" he cried. Danny yawned, sitting on the floor of the balloon.  
  
"No. You stole my Magikarp."  
  
"EEE!" Chris shouted, falling. Jesse grabbed ahold of him and dragged him back into the balloon.  
  
"Oh no you don't! I still have to hurt you mortally for that old bat remark! You're not going anywhere!" she yelled.  
  
"EEE!" Chris lept for the side of the balloon, but Jesse held him back. The group below all sweatdropped.  
  
"Ya know, they would be a lot more successful if they stopped arguing all the time." Samantha said, putting a hand behind her head. Camry was still glaring at Xander. Ryan sighed.  
  
"So would we." he said. "Let's keep going."   
  
Eventually, they made it through the large tunnel. As soon as they stepped out of the cave into the bright sunlight, they saw the massive arena that was the Indigo Stadium.  
  
"That's it, huh?" asked Xander. Ryan's face turned red and steam began to build up around his head. He grabbed a pokeball from his belt and enlarged it to full size.  
  
"THAT'S IT!?!?!?" he roared, chucking the pokeball at Xander's head.  
  
"YEEOOW!!!" the other cried, clutching his head where a bump had appeared. Calmly, Ryan picked up the projectile and placed it back on his belt. "What was that for?"  
  
"Don't be an idiot." he growled.  
  
"Will you two knock it off! Let's go." said an annoyed Camry. The two had gotten into such a large arguement that they failed to notice that Sam and Camry were dragging them into the stadium. Squirtle and Houndoom trailed behind, shaking their heads in disgrace.  
  
"Sqiurtle." the turtle pokemon sighed.  
  
The next thing Ryan and Xander knew, they were lying on the ground in front of a desk.  
  
"Wha?" Xander moaned, noticing a second bump on his head.  
  
"Oh, good. They're awake." said Sam.  
  
"Are your friends registering too?" asked a voice. The two guys stood up and pulled out their pokedexes in unison.  
  
"Yes!" they both said simultaneously.  
  
"Me first, me first me first me first!!!" Xander kept repeating, and Ryan growled.  
  
"Shut up already!" he said loudly. The girls both sweatdropped.  
  
"Me first! Hi lady. Hey, you're cute!" Xander looked over his shoulder at Camry. "Uh oh." Camry had a stress mark on her forehead. "I meant cute in a friendly sorta..." Camry slammed him over the head with her mallet and he fell to the ground. Ryan shhok his head and stepped forward to register.  
  
"Don't mind them, they're all crazy." Sam stepped forward casually and pushed Ryan aside.  
  
"Me first." She calmly registered and then offered the counter to Ryan, walking away. Both Ryan and Camry blinked, then Ryan stepped back up to the counter.  
  
"And I have to put up with stuff like this everyday." The lady at the counter chuckled softly as she took Ryan's pokedex. Camry looked down as Xander woke up and looked around dizzily.   
  
"ME FIRST!" he cried, than he noticed that Sam already went and his jaw dropped. "NOOOOOOOOO!!!" Camry sighed.  
  
"Don't worry, you're still first in my book." she cooed. Xander looked up at her painfully.   
  
"That doesn't matter." he moaned. A few seconds later he was unconscious on the floor again. Camry stepped over Xander and walked away. Xander registered and followed the rest of the group to select their first fields.  
  
"Please select which field you will be battling. Please press the red button." The attendant pointed to a big red button that said, 'press me'.   
  
"I wanna press the button, I wanna press the button, I wanna..." Sam slammed Xander over the head with a paper fan.   
  
"SHUT UP, WILL YOU!" she cried, making a sound of disgust and pressing the button. The first field she was battling on was Ice. "Hmm. Shouldn't be a problem." she mused, standing back and waiting. Xander ran up to the button and started pressing it vigorously.  
  
"Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!" he said happily, finally stopping. The first field he was battling in was Rock. "YES!!!!! HA HA HA!!! I WIN, YOU GET NOTHING, YOU LOSE! HA HA HA!!!" he yelled. Camry dragged him away by the ear.  
  
"Shut up, you." she said, exasperated. Ryan was last of all, and he hit the button. He was going to be battling on Grass.   
  
"Well, duty calls. Guess I had better catch up with insanity. Oi." He walked away, shaking his head.   
  
"Go pokeball!" Curtis called, throwing out his first pokeball. Sam stood watching him, an amused look on her face. The pokeball opened and out came a Sneasel. Sam smiled, closing her eyes and selecting her pokemon.  
  
"This will be altogether too easy." she murmered, throwing her pokeball. "Go Charizard!" Out in the stands, Camry turned to Xander.  
  
"One word." she said, and Xander waved his hands in surrender.  
  
"Heh heh. Well, I was only being honest about it. She does use the Charizard well." Xander crashed to the floor of the stands unconscious yet again. Curtis narrowed his eyes and ordered his Sneasel to attack.  
  
"Sneasel, use blizzard!" Samantha smiled slightly and sprang into action.  
  
"Charizard, beat it back!" Charizard used his wings to blow the blizzard back at the Sneasel, freezing it solid. Curtis stared in shock, then sighed. The announcer piped up.  
  
"Hey! What a startling upset by newcomer Samantha Yobematsu! What is Curtis going to use next?" Curtis got a determined look on his face and threw out his next pokeball.   
  
"Go Misdreavus!" he yelled. The purple ghost type appeared on the field with a shriek.  
  
"It's a good thing Rai-chan's not here, or he'd be furious." she thought to herself. Then she shouted, "Charizard, fire spin!" Charizard blew a twister of fire, and the misdreavus, not moving fast enough, was engulfed in the funnel.  
  
"Misdreavus, destiny bond, now!" Curtis said. The ghost shot a thin beam at the dragon pokemon. The beam appeared to do nothing, but as the misdreavus fainted from the fire blast, Charizard fell as well.  
  
"Charizard, noooo!!" Sam screamed, falling to her knees. "Return. Go Jigglypuff!!!" The round, pink pokemon landed on the field as Charizard and Misdreavus disappeared.  
  
"Go, Espeon!" shouted Curtis. The purple psychic type appeared on the opposite side of the field from Jigglypuff.  
  
"Jigglypuff, sing!" she commanded. Due to the large size of the arena, only the espeon fell asleep, and Sam's pokemon moved in for the finishing blow. "Finish it with a seismic toss!" Jigglypuff tossed the psychic type high into the air and pounded it on the way down. Dust filled the air as it landed with a loud thud.  
  
"Espeon is unable to battle. Sam wins the battle." Announced the ref. On the screen at the far end of the stadium, Sam's image was enlarged and the word congratulations appeared underneath.  
  
"Yay! We won! Jigglypuff, return." Sam cried.   
  
Meanwhile, Ryan was about to begin his second battle. He was battling Kit, a trainer from Viridian City.  
  
"Go Snorlax!" she cried.  
  
"Go Gyarados!" he yelled. The two pokemon appeared on the field, ready for battle. "Gyarados, start things off with an ice beam."   
  
"Snorlax, uhhh... Roll out of the way!" Kit shouted. The huge pokemon did as it was told, dodging the ice beam. Ryan, amazed by the Snorlax's speed, jumped, then ordered his gyarados to use hydro pump. The water blast hit the snorlax dead on and it rolled backwards into the raised platform Kit stood on. Screaming in terror, Kit held on for dear life.  
  
"Snorlax! Do something!!!" she screamed.  
  
"Lax, lax. Snorlax." the large creature said in affirmation. A white glow appeared around its right hand as it made a fist and it charged at Gyarados. The mega punch missed the water type, but slammed into the raised platform that Ryan was standing on, sending him flying onto the field. Falling towards the ground, Ryan suddenly bounced off the fallen snorlax that was now stuck helplessly in the platform. The bounce broke his headlong flight and sent him harmlessly to the ground.  
  
"Oww! Huh? Whoa!" Getting to his feet, Ryan ran screaming out of the way as his Gyarados moved across the field to attack. "Wait! LET ME MOVE FIRST!!!" he screamed. Kit laughed hysterically and pointed at him.  
  
"I win, you get nothing, you lose!" she cried in a singsong voice, laughing again. Ryan turned slowly to face her, his eyes with a strange fire in them. He climbed back up to the top of the tower and shouted, "Gyarados, thrash attack!" The giant water pokemon attacked and Snorlax was caught off guard. When the dust cleared, Snorlax had landed beside Kit's platform and started to dizzy eye. The round was called a victory to Ryan. Kit sighed and recalled her Snorlax. Ryan snickered menacingly. Kit, now very angry, jumped into attention. A little devil appeared on her shoulder and then disappeared.  
  
"Go Dugtrio!" the little three headed pokemon popped out of its ball and bobbed up and down in the dirt.  
  
"Trio, trio, trio!" The pokemon smiled and looked at both Ryan and his Gyarados, then his smile, slowly and sadistically, turned into a look of evil.  
  
"Dugtrio, use Earthquake now!" Kit hollared. Gyarados just watched as the three headed pokemon disappeared under the ground and the earth started shaking. Ryan held on for dear life, wincing as Gyarados went flying.   
  
"Uh oh." he murmered. Kit smiled triumphantly, but Gyarados came back down and landed on top of her platform, smashing it into the ground. From the stands, all people opposed of the girl howled with laughter while all the people for her booed and hissed hysterically. After Gyarados moved, Kit lay on the ground in pain.  
  
"Not funny." she said in a painful tone, jumping up, and sprouting fangs. Her eyes turned red. "You die now, Rai-chan." Ryan facefaulted and than jumped up, steam pouring from his ears.  
  
"What?! What did you just call me?" he shrieked. Kit gave him a calm victory smile, a placid, unafraid look on her face.  
  
"Rai-chan." Ryan sweatdropped and growled.  
  
"NEVER, EVER CALL ME THAT AGAIN!!! GYARADOS, HYPER BEAM, NOW!!!" he roared. His pokemon responded and fried the poor Dugtrio horribly. The round was once again called and Kit looked on with an exasperated look on her face.   
  
"Well, looks like I'll have to use something else now." she said softly, calling back her injured ground type. "So I will choose Venomoth!" The large bug Pokemon appeared and fluttered about above the ground. Ryan thought for a second, then called back Gyarados.  
  
"You need to rest." he said, pulling out another pokeball. "So now I'll use Girafarig!" The psychic pokemon appeared, it's back end letting out a vicious snarl. Kit laughed.  
  
"Oh, It's so scary!" she said in a mocking tone. Ryan snickered silently, then Kit attacked. "Venomoth, stun spore, now!" The yellow powder flew from the giant bug's wings and floated slowly towards Ryan and his Girafarig.  
  
"Girafarig, future sight, now!" The pokemon responded, but nothing seemed to happen. As Kit stood laughing at the seemingly useless attack, Venomoth's attack missed, due to an unexpected change of wind direction. Facefaulting, Kit stood up and screamed in frusteration.  
  
"How could you miss?!" she shrieked. "Try it again, now!" Her pokemon was about to obey when a huge blast of psychic energy appeared out of nowhere and hit the Venomoth from behind. It was immediately rendered unconscious. The announcer raised his flag in triumph and Ryan congratulated Girafarig.  
  
"Venomoth is unable to battle. This battle goes to Ryan!" The crowd cheered him on and he called back his pokemon.  
  
"Good job, I guess." Kit said in a soft voice, looking quite disappointed.   
  
During the break, Kit met up with an old colleague of hers, a guy named Chris who worked for a team of thieves.  
  
"Long time no see, Neko-chan. What's going on with you?" he said in a bored voice, wondering where Danny went and thinking about the seemingly looming armageddon of Gundam Pilots descending upon them. Kit shrugged.  
  
"Not too much. I just got my butt kicked by some punk kid and his gyarados and girafarig. I can't believe it! I was doing so good! Well, I did bad, but still, I tried to win and that's all that counts." Idly tossing a pokeball up and down, Chris looked over.  
  
"Oh, and what's this guy's name?" he asked suspiciously. Kit looked up at him.  
  
"Ryan Lachlan." The pokeball bounced out of his hand and hit the ground, a magikarp popping out of it and flopping around uselessly. Chris turned and raced off.  
  
"Aunty Jesse, Aunty Jesse!" he cried, the Magikarp flopping off after him. Kit stood with a sweatdrop and a raised eyebrow. She turned and put an arm behind her head.  
  
"And I thought I had problems."  
  
Elsewhere, during the second battles, Xander was about to have a match against a trainer named Gord. Xander yawned as he entered the water field, scratching his head.  
  
"Hmm... Water field. Squirtle... Yeah, I'll use Squirtle, cause he's a water pokemon..."  
  
"Go Raichu!" Gord cried. Xander blinked and then yawned again, taking out a pokeball. With his eyes closed, he threw the pokeball listlessly onto the field.  
  
"Go Squirtle. Do it, go. You can do it... Aww man... Coffee wearing off." he gave a tremendous yawn and sat down. Squirtle yawned as well and rubbed his eyes.  
  
"Squirtle." he said miserably. Gord blinked a few times, than started laughing hysterically.  
  
"Raichu, thunderbolt!" he said, pointing out to the field triumphantly. Raichu stepped forward and let loose with an amazing display of electricity. Squirtle didn't know what hit him, as he was still suffering from lack of energy. With a groan and a yawn, Xander called squritle back and threw out another pokemon.  
  
"Go Ampharos..." he moaned. The yellow pokemon appeared on the field with a cry and several bolts of lightning. "You know what to do... Zzzzzzzz." Ampharos' right paw began to glow with intense heat, and he charged at Gord's raichu. Ampharos landed an incredible dynamic punch to the unsuspecting raichu's jaw, knocking it out cold. The crowd began to cheer at the turn of events, and Xander woke up, this time seeming more awake. "Whoa, Ampharos, you did it!" he cried. Gord returned his Raichu and threw another pokeball onto the field.  
  
"Go ditto!" he shouted, the purple blob appearing on the ground. It immediately transformed into the yellow electric type, ready for a fight.  
  
"Ditto, use ice punch, then use dynamic punch!" he ordered. The fake ampharos ran at Xander's and the two pokemon began to fight. They were delivering fierce blows to each other, but neither would go down. Finally, one last ice punch from Ditto froze Ampharos on the spot. Xander called him back, and sent out his final pokemon.  
  
"Go, Snorlax!" he shouted.  
  
"Uh oh." said Gord. "Ditto return, and go Crobat!" The large, purple bat pokemon appeared in the air, and began swooping at the ponderous snorlax.  
  
"Snorlax, use bide!" commanded Xander. Snorlax nodded and concentrated for a moment, then began to glow.  
  
"Crobat, hit it with hypnosis and then use giga drain!" Crobat flew at Snorlax, its eyes glowing an eerie blue. Snorlax fell over on his back, and Crobat continued his attack by draining the energy right out of Snorlax.  
  
"Snorlax, no!!!" cried Xander.  
  
"Do you concede?" Gord asked him.  
  
"Yes." he said reluctantly.  
  
"You should know that Crobat is one of the fastest pokemon around. Using a snorlax against it is like using an ice cube to fight a charmeleon." the trainer gloated.  
  
"Xander Richmond concedes." announced the ref. "The battle goes to Gord!" Xander returned Snorlax to his pokeball, then sighed and walked off with Squirtle to mope.  
  
Ryan and Sam won the rest of their matches, and were going on to face the Elite Four the next day, which was, conveniently enough, Ryan's seventeenth birthday. Camry comforted Xander, while Ryan and Sam spent the rest of the day in town. They went to a congratulatory dinner, then went shopping, much to Ryan's dismay. Along the way, Sam and Ryan bumped into two guys and a girl. The girl had red hair, a yellow shirt, blue jeans, and was carrying a togepi. The younger of the boys had black hair, covered by a red and white cap. He had on a blue denim jacket and a black shirt, as well as a pair of jeans. The older and taller of the two had spiky dark brown hair, a green vest, an orange shirt, and brown slacks. A pikachu was sitting on the smaller boy's shoulder.  
  
"Hey, wow! That's a cool pokemon!" stated the younger boy, pulling out his pokedex. He opened it up and the screen flickered on.  
  
"Houndoom, the dark pokemon." said the computerized voice of Dexter. "It communicates with others of its type to trap its prey."  
  
"I heard that houndoom are really great battlers." commented the older guy.  
  
"That's true." Ryan said. "My name is Ryan, and this is Sam, Jigglypuff, and of course, Houndoom."  
  
"Aren't you the two trainers who made it to the Elite Four?" queried the girl.  
  
"Yeah. We're going to fight them tomorrow." responded Sam.  
  
"My name's Ash, and I'm trying to become a pokemon master." said the younger boy.  
  
"My name's Brock, and I'm gonna be a pokemon breeder." said the older of the two.  
  
"And my name's Misty. I'm trying to be a water pokemon master." said the girl.  
  
"Togepriii!" the egg shaped pokemon chimed.  
  
"It's nice to meet you all." Ryan said.  
  
"We were just doing some shopping. Why don't you guys come with us?" asked Sam.  
  
"We'd love to!" cried Misty.  
  
"Good. I'm not the only one who's going to be bored tonight." Sam's friend sighed.   
  
"Rai-kun." Sam growled. Ryan went silent.  
  
The increasingly larger gang of pokemon trainers went from store to store, usually just browsing. On occasion, the guys would get to look in a store that interested them but usually it was Sam and Misty that did the browsing. More than once, when Ryan said that Sam looked really good in a certain outfit, she joked that he should try it on himself, bringing back memories of his Team Rocket days. Remembering that a lot of the officers and nurses from other cities were there, Ryan became a bit paranoid that one or more might recognize him from the old picture that they had of him. He was especcialy worried that Nurse Joy from Viridian City might be there, as she was the only one other than Houndoom and Team Rocket to know his secret. Sure enough, she did show up, doing some shopping of her own. Overhearing a conversation between Brock and Ryan, Nurse Joy walked up to them.   
  
"Excuse me." she said politely. "Are you, by any chance, Ryan Lachlan from Viridian City?"  
  
"Long time no see, Nurse joy." Ryan said, putting down a bag he was carrying for Sam.  
  
"Yes, it has been a while." she agreed. Brock popped up from his seat, his eyes sparkling with excitement.  
  
"Ryan, you know this Nurse Joy?" he asked. Ryan nodded. "Hi. My name's Brock. I'm a good friend of Ryan's and was wondering if we could maybe get together for dinner sometime. Misty came from behind a rack of clothes and dragged him away.  
  
"Ryan, could I speak to you for a bit?" Nurse Joy asked the pokemon trainer. "Just for old times sake."  
  
"I suppose I could get away from Sam for a bit." he said. "Just let me tell her." Sam came out of the change room at that moment, wearing a gorgeous, long black gown.  
  
"So, what do ya think?" Sam queried.  
  
"It looks good on you." he said. "Don't tell me you're taking me dancing."  
  
"For your information, I am!" she shouted back. "Keep it up, and you'll be the one wearing this, Rai chan!" Ryan flinched.   
  
"Well, if you don't mind, I'd like to talk to an old friend of mine. I'll meet you back at the hotel." Ryan growled.  
  
"Oh. Okay. Sorry for snapping at you." Sam apologozed. "Have fun."  
  
"You too. Go easy on Ash and Brock, will ya?" With that, Ryan left the store with Nurse Joy. The two went back to the pokemon center, where they took care of an injured pokemon, then went into Joy's room.   
  
"I knew I could trust you to make a fresh start." she said.  
  
"Yeah, well, I was only in Team Rocket because I had nowhere else to go." Ryan sighed. "I wish I'd never joined though. I still feel guilty. Especially for stealing all of those eevees. If only I had returned them. But I couldn't, otherwise I would've been caught. And fooling all of those people with my disguise."  
  
"You can't change the past now." Joy said. "Would you like a cup of coffee?"  
  
"Yes please." Nurse Joy began to make a pot of coffee as Ryan continued to speak. "When I first met the leader of Team Rocket, he told me that your opponent can do two things; they can fear you, or respect you. He said that respect will get you much farther than fear. After being the top member of Team Rocket, I'm not so sure of that anymore."  
  
"Well, he may not have followed his own preachings, but he was right." said Joy, as she handed him a cup. "But, enough about Team Rocket. How have you been doing lately?"  
  
"Well, for one thing, I'm going to face the Elite Four tomorrow."   
  
"That's great news! I see your houndour has evolved into a houndoom as well. Did you ever evolve Eevee into a jolteon?"  
  
"Yeah. I got another one too. Well, actually, Eve was given to me after I stole all of those eevees. She was just an infant then, and was useless to Team Rocket, so the leader gave her to me to raise, because I had experience with eevees. I guess she was the only one I could save." Ryan said, in between sips of the dark liquid. Having wanted to train Eve a bit, Ryan had switched Gyarados for her, and now, released both Eve and Jolteon from their pokeballs. Jolteon immediately jumped up on Nurse Joy, remembering her from all those years ago. Eve hopped up onto Nurse Joy's bed and sat down.   
  
"I guess he still remembers me." Joy laughed. "Mind if I take a look at your eevee? Tilting his cup back one final time, Ryan motioned for her to go ahead. Nurse joy examined Eve thouroughly, then sat down on her bed, beside the small pokemon. "She's in excellent condition."  
  
"They say a pokemon's attachment with its trainer determines how long it'll take to evolve. If that's the case, then I think she'll evolve anytime now. I just have to wait for the right moment."  
  
"What are you going to evolve her into?" Nurse Joy questioned. Ryan sat down on the bed next to her and Eevee hopped onto his lap.  
  
"An umbreon. Other than Jolteon, the only eeveelution I want is an umbreon."   
  
"I see. You know, it's been so long since we last talked." she sighed.  
  
"Yeah. All those years ago. It was four years ago since we last met, and seven since you gave me my first eevee. But I still remember all of those years."  
  
"You're seventeen?" Joy asked.  
  
"Tomorrow." Ryan replied.  
  
"Congratulations. But we can celebrate tomorrow. For now, why don't we look back into the past? Maybe I can help you relieve some of your pain. I did major in psychology for a while, and besides, I want to hear the whole story this time."  
  
"Nurse Joy, you're a true friend." he said, petting Eve gently. "Well, I guess it all started when I was ten..."  
  
  
To Be Continued 


	4. Gathering Clouds: An Interlude to Pokemo...

Gathering Clouds  
An Interlude to Pokemon Legend  
  
The sun was shining brightly, the birds were singing, and a young boy was about to start one of the best days of his life. This was the day of Ryan Lachlan's tenth birthday, and possibly the day he got his first pokemon from Nurse Joy in the Viridian City Pokemon Center. He wished he could've gotten his first pokemon from Professor Elm in New Bark Town. New trainers there got a choice between a cyndaquil, a chikorita, or a totodile, but in Viridian city, new trainers only had a choice between a pikachu, a geodude, or a growlithe. But what he really wanted was a houndour, or even a murkrow. Ryan loved dark type pokemon because they were so tough and were immune to psychic attacks like steel type pokemon were immune to poison attacks. Another reason he liked them was their ability to learn a vast amount of different attacks. An excellently trained houndoom could use solar beam, while a well trained tyranitar could use surf.  
  
This special day started off just like any other. He got up, got dressed, washed up, and went about his daily job of delivering the morning newspaper. It was a great day, so he decided to take his time coming home. When he arrived home, his parents called him into the living room.  
  
"Happy birthday son." his father said, handing him a package. The box was fairly large for a present, and was riddled with small holes. From inside the box came a soft whimpering sound and the sound of something pawing at the inside of the box. Ryan ripped the lid off of the package to reveal a small, black furred creature, a houndour.  
  
"A houndour!" the boy exclaimed, gently picking up the small canine pokemon and hugging it close to him.  
  
"We knew you'd like him." said his mother.  
  
"Thank you! Thank you!" he cried.  
  
"Dour." the small pokemon yipped.  
  
Ryan spent the rest of the day getting to know his new pokemon, completely forgetting about getting his other pokemon from the Pokemon Center.  
  
"Don't worry, we can still go tomorrow. I'm sure Nurse Joy will still have something for you." his mother assured him. That night, both Ryan and Houndour curled up to each other in bed, both happy with their new friend.  
  
The next day, Ryan took Houndour for a walk, and they both ran around in the field south of the city. Today was just as beautiful as the last day, no exceptions at all. They were just about to head back to the city when Ryan heard a sound coming from the ground. He jumped back just in time to avoid the sting of an angry weedle.  
  
"Houndour, do something!" the boy cried. "Use ember!" He did not know whether or not his pokemon could do this, as he had not even seen a single puff of smoke come from his small companion. Amazingly, Houndour opened his mouth and a stream of tiny flames burst from it. The weedle fainted long before Houndour closed his mouth. The duo quickly returned to the city, and later on, visited the pokemon center. Nurse Joy looked his pokemon over then gave it back to Ryan.  
  
"Your houndour is doing nicely Ryan. Even at his young age, Houndour's ember attack is pretty strong. You might want to train him to control his power." She suggested.  
  
"Okay." he agreed. "Oh, Nurse Joy. I was wondering, are there still any pokemon left from yesterday? I was just so excited when I got Houndour that I forgot to get one yesterday."  
  
"I think I may have a couple left." the nurse said. She led him to the back room where pokemon were stored and grabbed two pokeballs off of the table. "Take your pick. You can have a mareep or an eevee." The boy's eyes widened at the second choice. Eevee were rare pokemon that could evolve into one of five pokemon.  
  
"I think I'll take the eevee." he said.  
  
"Somehow I thought you'd choose that one." Nurse Joy giggled, picking up a pokeball from the table.  
  
"Yeah. I want to evolve it into a jolteon later." Ryan said, as nurse Joy handed him the red and white ball.  
  
"Why a jolteon?" she asked.  
  
"Jolteon is my favorite electric type." he replied.  
  
"Well, I guess that's as good a reason as any." she said. "Just don't forget to train it before you evolve it, otherwise it might not learn some moves."  
  
"Okay, I will. Thank you Nurse Joy!" he said, leaving the building with both Houndour and his new eevee in his arms.  
  
By the time Ryan got home, Eevee was already great friends with both him and Houndour. They spent the rest of the day in the backyard playing and training. Houndour was already adept at using ember and bite, and Eevee could use tackle and bite. Both pokemon wrestled on the grass, racing around the backyard, and just having a good time. Both slept with Ryan in bed that night. But after that, Eevee preferred to rest inside his pokeball, finding it perfectly comfortable.  
  
By the end of the month, Ryan's pokemon had learned a lot of attacks and were becoming good fighters. Ryan had even won a friendly competition against some of the neighborhood kids. Because they were kids, the prize was only a pokeball, but Ryan entered because both he and his pokemon wanted to test their mettle against others. That victory made Ryan realize that he wanted to become a pokemon trainer more than anything else in the world.  
  
For Christmas that year his parents paid for lessons at a special dojo that trained both humans and pokemon to fight and work together. Because of that dojo, Ryan decided to stay at home for a while before leaving on his pokemon journey. He and his pokemon were learning so much that they had no desire to leave yet. The Kimono Girls from Ecruteak City in Johto came to teach for a week, giving special training to eevees and their trainers. As one of the only two trainers with an eevee, Ryan spent most of the week with the girls, learning the secrets of eevees, jolteons, and even some evasive maneuvers for his own self defense. By the time they left, Ryan's eevee was ready to become a jolteon and he was becoming a skilled dancer. As they had said, dancing can easily be combined with any form of self defense.  
  
As the lessons continued, Ryan, Houndour, and Eevee were growing in strength, mind, soul, and size. As any growing child, human or pokemon alike, would do, all three developed very large appetites. The bond between the trainer and his pokemon grew, but the bond between him and Houndour grew faster. By the time Ryan turned eleven, he could, three out of four times, understand what the dark type pokemon was saying. This particular skill did and probably would come in handy many times.  
  
When Ryan's twelfth birthday, and two year anniversary of the day he met Houndour, arrived, he was completely different. The idea of a typical birthday party was discarded in favour of a small pokemon tournament. Luckily Giovanni, the Viridian City Gym leader, allowed them to use the gym for their small tournament. Everyone thought he did it to find new trainers for his gym, but no one cared. Prizes were given to everyone competing, as the tournament was merely for fun. Ryan was working his way up the small ladder with the help of his two pokemon. The final battle was between Ryan and his best friend since he was five, Phil. The battle was a one on one.  
  
"Go Haunter!" Phil cried, throwing his pokeball into the field.  
  
"Let's do it Houndour." said Ryan. Houndour leapt onto the field to begin the match. "Houndour, start things off with a shadow ball!"  
  
"Haunter, night shade attack!" ordered the other. Both pokemon used their attacks simultaneously, creating a small explosion of ghostly energy.  
  
"Use bite!" Ryan commanded.  
  
"Haunter, use hypnosis!" Phil cried. Haunter's eyes began to glow blue, but Houndour was unaffected by the psychic attack and bit into his opponent. Houndour tore at the ghost type pokemon, shaking him around, then finally, throwing it to the ground. Houndour moved in for the finishing blow, but Ryan said, "Houndour, let it get up." The haunter began to get up, but promptly fainted from dizziness.  
  
"Dour!" Houndour cried.  
  
"Good job, Houndour." Ryan said.  
  
"Amazing." said a voice from behind him. "You are going to be an excellent trainer when you grow up."  
  
"Thank you." said the young trainer as he stooped to give his pokemon a biscuit.  
  
"I am Giovanni, the leader of this gym." said the man.  
  
"You're Giovanni?" Ryan said in disbelieving shock.  
  
"Yes, I am." he said. "Your battling skills are excellent. You don't take battle lightly, yet you have mercy. Your opponents can do two things after you beat them. Do you know what those two things are?"  
  
"No, sir." the boy replied.  
  
"I'll tell you. Your opponents can either fear you or respect you. If you show mercy, they will most likely respect you. Let me tell you something: being respected is many times better than being feared." the gym leader said. "If you have the respect of others, you'll go far."  
  
"I'll remember that, sir." Ryan promised.  
  
"Say, why don't you come and train here sometime? Every Saturday and Sunday if possible" asked Giovanni. "I'm sure your parents won't mind."  
  
"I'll go ask them." he said. Ryan did as he said and asked his parents the question. His parents agreed that he should train at the gym and all of his friends gasped in awe of his incredible luck. Ryan quickly returned to Giovanni with the answer and the gym leader pulled a chain out of his suit pocket. On the chain was a gold disc with a metallic red symbol for fire embedded in it.  
  
"Happy birthday." said Giovanni, as he handed Ryan the chain. "That medallion will be proof of our friendship."  
  
"Thank you sir." he said.  
  
"Just call me Giovanni." said the man, as he walked off into the depths of the gym. "See you in two days Ryan."  
  
"You're so lucky!" cried an approaching Phil. "I wish I could be you right now. But c'mon, your parents are handing out the prizes."  
  
"Right." he said. Ryan quickly put the chain on and both he and his two pokemon followed him back to the group.  
  
"Ryan, you're just in time. Here are your presents." said his father. The package contained two pokeballs and a complete set of apricorn pokeballs.  
  
"We've got something for you, too." said another of his friends, the other eevee trainer in the city. Two of his other friends came with something covered with a sheet. They pulled off the sheet and Ryan gasped. Under the sheet was a fish tank containing the biggest magikarp he had ever seen.  
  
"We know how much you want a gyarados, but we couldn't catch one. Instead, we caught the biggest magikarp we could find." said Phil.  
  
"Thank you all." said the boy. The rest of the day went great, completely tiring out the young trainer. He and his pokemon went to bed, dreaming of the day when they would set out on their journey.  
  
The next day was the same as any other Friday, except for the celebration of the two year anniversary of the day Ryan met Eevee. As was the tradition, Ryan was allowed to stay up much later than usual on Fridays and Saturdays. Ryan sat on the couch, with Eevee and Houndour on either side and Magikarp watching from his tank, watching a Pokemon League tournament on TV. After it was over, he got up, turned off the TV, and crept downstairs to his room. His parents were asleep by then, so he decided to go outside and look at the stars. He and his two furry companions were outside for what seemed like hours.  
  
The sky was clear, the stars were bright, and the moon was full. But something didn't seem, or more specifically, didn't smell right. Houndour was the first to notice the stench. He nudged Ryan in the side and pointed back toward the house. Ryan turned around just in time to notice the smoke slowly making its way down the stairs.  
  
"Eevee, grab my medallion; it's on the bed!" he commanded. "C'mon Houndour, we've gotta save Mom and Dad!" All three rushed back into the burning house to do whatever they could. Ryan grabbed his backpack containing all of his training supplies, several changes of clothes, and his wallet. He rushed upstairs with Houndour and told him to find his parents. Ryan then proceeded to save his magikarp from a soon to become boiling fish tank by returning him to his pokeball. After saving his third pokemon, the young trainer dashed to his parent's room only to discover that the roof had come down, blocking his path down the hallway. Houndour was desperately trying to move the debris, but wasn't strong enough to move it out of the way.  
  
"Ryan, quick, go get help!" he heard his mother cry from the other side.  
  
"C'mon Houndour, let's go!" he said. They quickly made their way downstairs and found Eevee waiting for them by the door. Ryan slipped his shoes on and ran into the night, his pokemon trailing close behind. He went to the neighbors place and slammed on the door. An old man answered the door, rubbing his eyes.  
  
"Whatsa matter?" he yawned.  
  
"What's the matter?!" cried the boy. "My place is on fire! You gotta call the fire department!" The man sprang to attention, as if three cups of coffee had just taken effect. The man looked in the direction of Ryan's house and his eyes went wide.  
  
"Quick, come inside, all of you." he said, running back inside. Ryan and his pokemon entered the house and followed the man into his kitchen where he was already dialing the number for the fire department.  
  
"Hello? Yeah, it's an emergency! The house next door to me is on fire! What, you know? Then get over here and do something about it!" he yelled into the phone. With that, the old man hung up the phone and turned back toward Ryan. "Don't worry son, they're comin." Minutes later, the fire truck arrived with a team of wartortle clinging to the top. They quickly hopped to the ground and surrounded the house, using water gun as soon as they were in place. The water pokemon had soon put out the fire, but there was bad news to come. The chief fire fighter put a hand on Ryan's shoulder and hesitated for a moment, then said, "I'm sorry, but your parents didn't make it out. They suffocated from the smoke. I'm sorry." Tears welled up inside Ryan's eyes, and he began to cry. Even Houndour and Eevee wept in sorrow. Sometime after he had stopped bawling and everyone but the firemen had left, a van pulled up beside him. The window rolled down to reveal Giovanni. Even his serious face seemed filled with despair.  
  
"I heard the bad news. I'm sorry you had to go through something that horrible." he said.  
  
"I'm sorry Giovanni, but I won't be able to train at your gym." Ryan sobbed. "My closest relatives are in Saffron City, so I'll have to move there."  
  
"Your aunt and uncle?" he asked.  
  
"Yes. They're both scientists for Sylph Co." the young man answered.  
  
"Really? I think I know them. Yes, I recall Sylph Co. sending some employees to start a lab here in Viridian City. Why don't you come to the gym with me and you can phone them?" he said. Ryan nodded in agreement and hopped into the passenger's side of the vehicle. A door slid open and Ryan's pokemon jumped into the back.  
  
Ryan phoned his relatives and they told him the whole story.  
  
"We've got something else to tell you, Ryan." said his uncle.  
  
"Go ahead." said Giovanni.  
  
"We're both part of Team Rocket." said his aunt. "Your parents were too." Ryan was both shocked and amazed by this statement.  
  
"That's why you were able to have your little tournament here, and the reason why I wanted you to train here." the gym leader told him.  
  
"I always wondered why we were so well off compared to everyone else." Ryan said.  
  
"Join Team Rocket and I will give you whatever you want. All you have to do is listen to my instructions and carry them out." the man said. Ryan's face went serious and he said, "Why not, I've got nothing else left."  
  
"Excellent. You can live with your aunt and uncle, but don't expect to lead a normal life." Giovanni said. "But I'm sure you'll exceed Team Rocket standards in no time. Come with me. I'll give you your uniform and show you who you'll be working with." The three followed the leader of Team Rocket down the hall to an elevator, where they rode it to the bottom. After walking down another corridor, they came to a large room that looked to Ryan like an equipment room. Three figures walked up to Giovanni.  
  
"We're here boss." said a boy who looked the same age as Ryan. This boy had blue hair and was grinning stupidly. Next to him was a girl who looked the same age. Her hair was red and went down to her thighs. In the center of both was a meowth who was standing on two feet.  
  
"Jesse, James, this is your new partner." said Giovanni.  
  
"Him? He looks, well, sad." said the girl.  
  
"I'm sure you would be too if your parents were killed in a fire tonight!" he yelled.  
  
"Oh. Yeah." she said. "Sorry."  
  
"I'm sorry Ryan." said Giovanni. "Those three can be thick headed at times."  
  
"Then how come I can't use skull bash very well?" asked the meowth. Ryan's eyes opened wide as he heard the feline pokemon speak.  
  
"Yes, Ryan, Meowth can talk. It's one of the only things he does well." said the man. "James, go fetch his uniform."  
  
"Yes sir!" said the boy. He came back seconds later carrying a folded pile of clothes, a pair of boots, and a pair of biking gloves.  
  
"Here's the bathroom." the Rocket leader told him, pointing to his left. "Go see how they fit." Ryan came back with the uniform on, looking like a true member of Team Rocket.  
  
"They fit perfectly." Ryan said.  
  
"Excellent." said Giovanni. Ryan bent down and looked his two pokemon in the eyes.  
  
"Sorry guys, but this is the way it's got to be. I'm sorry we couldn't have been ready to leave on our journey sooner." he said. Both Houndour and Eevee licked his face, then Eevee returned to his pokeball.  
  
"Houndour, dour." whined Houndour.  
  
"Don't worry, everything will be okay." he replied.  
  
"You can understand him?" asked Giovanni.  
  
"I've been able to for a while." he admitted.  
  
"Meowth, what did Houndour just say?" queried the leader of the Rockets.  
  
"He's worried for Ryan. They've been together for so long. He doesn't want anything to happen to his friend." he said.  
  
"That's so sad." said Jesse.  
  
"Amazing. You truly can understand him." said Giovanni. "Do you think you can do the same for any other canine pokemon?"  
  
"I don't know. I can probably communicate with any houndour and maybe houndoom, but I'm not sure about any other canine pokemon." Ryan replied truthfully.  
  
"We'll have to work on that." said the man. "But until your relatives get here, you'll be sticking with these three. See if you can straighten them out."  
  
"Yes, Giovanni." he said. Jesse, James, and Meowth gasped.  
  
"Be quiet, you three. I have given him permission to use my name." Giovanni barked. Then he turned back to Ryan and said, "I have faith in you. Make me proud and make Team Rocket feared and everywhere." With that, he left, leaving Ryan and Houndour with their new colleagues.  
  
"Come with us." said Jesse. "Our balloon is outside." The group of five left the room and hopped into the basket of a meowth shaped hot air balloon.   
  
The moon was full, the stars were bright, and Ryan and his pokemon set out into a dark new chapter in their lives.  
  
A year later, Ryan was one of the most successful members of Team Rocket. He had received a murkrow from Giovanni and had developed his ability to understand canine pokemon. He could now easily understand any canine pokemon. But he'd had his fair share of failures, mostly due to other members. Ryan had just returned from one such failure in Saffron City and was about to report to Giovanni on the next mission.  
  
The leader of Team Rocket sat alone in his dark room. Even the persian that usually stayed by his side had crept away to avoid his wrath. Giovanni heard Ryan enter and said, "How goes the next operation?"  
  
"All is going according to plan." replied Ryan, as he approached his boss. "They're all ready."  
  
"Excellent. Once we have those eevees we will be unstoppable!" he cried.  
  
"No offense Giovanni, but don't get your hopes up." the young man began. "I can do my job, but most of your Rockets are incompetent."  
  
"I hate to admit it, but you're right; it's so hard to find good help nowadays. That's why I'm giving you complete control over this operation." said Giovanni. "Ryan, you are the best Rocket I've ever had. You are my right hand man, and now, my second in command."  
  
"But why me?" the boy stammered. "I'm sure there are others who are more capable of running Team Rocket when you can't."  
  
"Like I said, you're the best I have. In fact, when I cannot run Team Rocket or the Viridian City Gym anymore, I want you to take over." said the man.  
  
"I'm honoured." he said.  
  
"You should be. Now, come with me." commanded Giovanni. "I'm going to give you your new uniform." The two walked down the long, dark hallway to the equipment room, where the came to shelf filled with Team Rocket uniforms and various costumes. Giovanni picked up a black pile of clothes and handed it to Ryan. "Here. This is the uniform of the Team Rocket Elite." With that, Ryan quickly changed and came back moments later. "I've had that one made similar to your last one. The gloves are identical though." he informed the boy.  
  
"That's okay. I've always preferred biking gloves to the standard Team Rocket gloves anyway." Ryan said.  
  
"Good. Now go. Wear that R with pride and command your army." ordered Giovanni.  
  
"Yes, Giovanni. Team Rocket will rule the world." Ryan came out of the building and found Houndour in the same place that he had left him. "Look Houndour, we're elite!"   
  
"Houndour!" he barked happily.  
  
"C'mon, the Team Rocket army is now ours to command. Let's carry out the mission and get those eevees."  
  
"Dour." Both walked over to the man leading the group of Rockets and he immediately stopped what he was doing.  
  
"Ryan, Houndour. Master Giovanni has just informed us of your new rank. Congratulations." said the man.  
  
"Save it for later. We've got a job to do. Tell me your strategy." commanded the young Rocket Elite.  
  
"Intelligence has informed me that the ranch near Olivine City has begun breeding larger numbers of eevee. It's defense consists of miltanks and mareep, along with several growlithes and people. Our plan is to split the group and enter the ranch from three different sides." he informed Ryan.  
  
"Hmmmm. It's risky, but if I bring my houndour army we should be able to pull it off." said. "Send two of your men to get the army. Then give each man a pokeball containing a houndour. I'll go with the main group."  
  
"Yes sir." he said. The man sent two of his troops and they came back with a sack full of pokeballs. Each member of Team Rocket was given one houndour filled pokeball. They all set out in a plane to the far-off Olivine City.  
  
After they had all arrived at their destination, They split into three groups and quietly snuck around to three different points outside of the target ranch.  
  
"Okay, on my signal." Ryan said into a walkie talkie. "Go!" The three groups of Rockets let their houndour troops out of their pokeballs and charged the ranch. Miltank, mareep, growlithe, and humans came from everywhere to defend the eevees. Even the older eevees were helping in the fight. "Take no prisoners but the eevees!" The attack grew into a battle, both sides slowly diminishing.  
  
One man noticed Ryan's darker uniform and attacked him. Ryan was barely able to dodge the furious man's punch, but returned with a kick to his gut. The defender collapsed to the ground, out of breath and gasping for air.  
  
"Don't mess with Team Rocket. We fight dirty." said the young Rocket.  
  
The Rockets had finally won, and were just heading back to their plane when the police force showed up.  
  
"Halt!" commanded Officer Jenny. "You are all under arrest for theft!"  
  
"It's not over yet!" Ryan cried. "We've fought to steal these eevees, and we're not giving them up! Let's go troops!" The whole Team Rocket army attacked the police, while Ryan grabbed the sack full of eevee filled pokeballs and worked his way to the back of the army and around. He hid around a building and pulled a disguise out of his backpack. He put it on and stuffed the pokeballs into the pack. He went down the back alleys and came out far away from the fight. Now he was safe. To anyone else he was a cute thirteen year old girl named Ann. He even had photo ID for this disguise. He hated the disguise, but had forgotten to pack one earlier and was in too much of a hurry to board the plane. Officer Jenny came running from the direction of the skirmish, holding a piece of paper. She stopped in front of him, a serious look on her face.  
  
"Excuse me, young lady, but have you seen this boy?" officer Jenny asked. "I saw him sneak into the back alleys."  
  
"No, I'm sorry. I haven't seen him. I hope you catch him though." He said in his most feminine voice.  
  
"Okay, thanks anyway." she said, dashing off.  
  
"Good luck!" the young Rocket called. He was lucky that his voice hadn't changed yet, or he wouldn't have been able to pull that one off. His face hadn't changed much either, so he knew he was safe. His run in with Officer Jenny proved that. The Rocket Elite casually made his way to the phone booth and called Giovanni.  
  
"Hello?" asked his boss' voice.  
  
"Giovanni, it's Ryan." he said. "We had a run in with the police, but I got away with the eevees."  
  
"What about the troops?" asked Giovanni.  
  
"It doesn't look like they'll make it. There were too many cops." said the boy.  
  
"See if you can at least get the houndour back, but don't get yourself caught. I would easily trade all of those Rockets and pokemon for you and your pokemon. Take the eevees to the plane and begin your next mission." said the man.  
  
"Right." he said, hanging up. "Okay, round two." Ryan cleared his throat, then tested his girl voice before leaving the booth.  
  
Later that night, the boy, still disguised as a young woman, made his way to the back of the police station. The pokeballs containing the Rocket houndour were all in a sack on the other side of a storage room.  
  
"Hmm. The place probably has an alarm. Eevee, come out." said Ryan. The small, furry pokemon popped out of his ball and stood at attention beside Houndour. "All right, Houndour, use ember to open the window." The canine pokemon did as told and the bars and glass of the window melted, giving all three access to the room. All three slipped in and an alarm immediately went off.  
  
"Dour!" Houndour cried.  
  
"Crap! Houndour, grab the bag and go! I'll meet you at the entrance to the woods just north of the city." Ryan ordered. Ryan took the bag and tossed it out the window and Houndour grabbed it and ran off into the darkness. Ryan and Eevee were about to leave when Officer Jenny burst in. She flicked on the light, exposing Ryan and Eevee.  
  
"Hey! You're the girl I saw earlier! What are you doing here?" she demanded. Ryan began to cry, a trick that had been useful in the past.  
  
"I'm sorry. The window was open and I was just curious." he sobbed. "I didn't know what I was doing." The look on the police officer's face changed, and she patted Ryan on the back.  
  
"It's okay." the woman said. "You said the window was already open; did you see who did it? And is that your eevee?"  
  
"No, I didn't see who did it." lied the boy in disguise. "But this is my eevee. He was my first pokemon."  
  
"Hmm. The bag full of confiscated houndour are gone. It could have been that boy from Team Rocket." said Jenny.  
  
"Team Rocket?" he cried.  
  
"A small army of Rockets came earlier tonight and stole the eevees that a ranch was breeding. Several of the workers are claiming that the leader was that young man." she said.  
  
"Kids in Team Rocket?" he asked.  
  
"Apparently there are quite a few, but this boy seems to be smarter than any other member of Team Rocket. We only have one picture of him and only a few people have seen him. We don't even know his name." Jenny replied. "Come with me and I'll give you a picture. Maybe you can help us find him." Ryan and Eevee followed Officer Jenny to her office and she pulled a picture off of her bulletin board. She handed the picture to him and he looked closely at it. He was pointing his right arm forward as other members of team Rocket were running in that direction.  
  
"Shoot." he thought. "I should've been more careful. I'm gonna get it from Giovanni."  
  
"That's the only shot we have of him." she said.  
  
"I'll be glad to help you out." he said.  
  
"Vee!" cried Eevee.  
  
"Thanks a lot." said Officer Jenny. "We need all the help we can get. Now, you'd better get going."  
  
"Okay. Thanks Officer Jenny. Good luck again." Ryan said, walking out of the building.  
  
As soon as he was far enough from building that no one could see him, he began to dash towards the woods where he would meet Houndour, Eevee hot on his tail. Houndour was there waiting for him at the edge of the woods, the bag of pokeballs beside him.  
  
"Good work Houndour." he complimented.  
  
"Houndour." he said. Ryan put the bag of Houndour pokeballs into his back pack and headed for a different part of the city. He got back on the phone with Giovanni and arranged a ride to Goldenrod City, where he would take a plane back to Viridian City. Soon, a member of Team Rocket came in a black car and picked him up.  
  
"That's an excellent disguise, sir." said the Rocket.  
  
"Yes, I know." he said. "I even fooled Officer Jenny with it."  
  
"You are truly a master of deception, sir." commented the Rocket.  
  
They made it easily to the Goldenrod City airport and Ryan, still disguised as Ann, found that Giovanni had already gotten him a ticket on a late plane. He boarded it and it took off soon after, heading for Viridian City.  
  
The captured members were eventually broken out, and Ryan began using his female persona when he was on solo missions and sometimes when he had the day to himself. He found that people trusted Ann more than Ryan, as Ann was always more friendly. Besides, he had to get information somehow. But, as only he, his pokemon, and other members of Team Rocket knew, it was all just a mask, covering his true personality. The other members were starting to say that he was becoming just like Giovanni. But his disguise inspired one member; namely, James. He started out by accompanying Ryan on minor missions, both dressed as girls, and successfuly completed all of them. James began to feel more confident, and started going out by himself. But the thing was, both Jesse and James had learned the art of disguise from him, so all of the members just assumed that he was practicing. Ryan knew the truth, though. James was crazy, and he idolized Ryan. Jesse and Meowth, along with other, younger members, did too.  
  
Team Rocket had become a menace to the world, and all because of him and his pokemon. But things were about to change. Although a Team Rocket Elite, Ryan and his pokemon were doing all of the work themselves. After all, weren't teams supposed to work together and share the work? This team was different. Everyone on it, excluding Ryan, his pokemon, and Giovanni, was incompetent. Ryan was very often rewarded greatly for his feats, but that wasn't enough. He didn't need Team Rocket. If he was that successful in Team Rocket, why couldn't he be without it?  
  
"That's it." he thought. "We're leaving."  
  
"Dour?" Houndour whined.  
  
"Houndour, we've been pulling this team up a hill for too long. It's time we went out into the world by ourselves. We'll pack today and leave tonight. No one will notice that we're missing until Giovanni gives us our next assignment." he said. "We'll finally be able to start our journey, and live decent lives. Our first destination is New Bark Town."  
  
That night, Ryan left the black Team Rocket Elite uniform behind, only keeping the gloves. The duo successfully made it out of the building, but were stopped at the gate.  
  
"Master Ryan. Has Giovanni sent you on another solo mission?" asked one of the guards.  
  
"Yes. I'll be back before sunrise." he said.  
  
"Good luck." said the other. The two guards opened the gate and the he and Houndour walked off into the night. Too tired to walk all the way to Pallet Town, Ryan decided to stop at the Pokemon Center. When he got there, he found Nurse Joy rushing several pokemon inside the building.  
  
"Excuse me." she said. "Do you think you could lend me a hand?"  
  
"Sure." he said.  
  
"I need you to get all of these pokemon inside the Center. I can't do this and take care of them at the same time." she told him.  
  
"No problem." he assured her. Within no time, all of the pokemon were in the treatment room, and Ryan and Houndour were even helping Nurse Joy and her chansey treat the pokemon.  
  
Ryan woke up the next morning to find Houndour curled up beside him and Nurse Joy standing over him.  
  
"Good morning! Did you sleep well?" she asked.  
  
"Yes. Thank you." he replied.  
  
"And thank you for all of your help last night, both of you. I don't think Chansey and I could've done it without your help." she said.   
  
"Don't mention it. I love pokemon." Ryan said.  
  
"Care to join me for a cup of coffee?" Joy queried.  
  
"Why not?" he answered. "C'mon Houndour." Houndour got up, stretched, and followed Nurse Joy and his partner into the kitchen.  
  
"Say, I didn't get your name." she said as she was pouring a cup of coffee for him. She set it down on the table in front of him, and poured some into a bowl for Houndour.  
  
"And I thought you would've remembered me." he said. "Eevee, come out and say hi to Nurse Joy." Eevee came out of his pokeball and cried happily.  
  
"That's..." she stammered. Eevee began lapping up coffee from Houndour's bowl, his white tipped tail wagging.  
  
"Yes, you gave me Eevee three years ago." he said in between sips.  
  
"Ryan?"  
  
"Yes, Nurse Joy."  
  
"You've changed. But, I haven't seen you for over a year." she said.  
  
"I've got a confession to make." the boy said. "Ever since I was twelve, I've been a part of Team Rocket." Nurse Joy gasped at that statement. "But I'm turning over a new leaf. I'm starting over in Johto."  
  
"Are you the young man that all of the Jennys have been looking for?" she asked.  
  
"Yes, I am. And I know you probably won't believe me, but I'm also Ann." he said.  
  
"But why tell me? I could turn you in." she questioned. "And why trick all those people into thinking you were a kind, young pokemon trainer?"  
  
"But I know you won't. I know you too well. As for your second question, I didn't want to get caught. After all, they do have a picture of me. But my aunt and uncle are also members; why don't you turn them in?" he stated. "They live right across the street from the Viridian City Gym. It's the blue house. Just tell Jenny it was an anonymous tip. Thank you for all of your hospitality, but we should be going now. We need to make it to the Pallet Town Harbour before two." With that, Ryan, Houndour, and Eevee turned and left, leaving the last person he cared about behind.  
  
That afternoon, Ryan and his pokemon were on their way to the beginning of their journey; New Bark Town, the town where the winds of new beginnings blow.   
  
The boat ride was uneventful, though Ryan and Houndour had a bit of fun avoiding the officer Jenny that was on board. The boat made it to Palet town with no trouble, and the duo got to Professor Elm's lab without meeting up with Officer Jenny.  
  
"Hello? Is anyone in here?" Ryan asked, as he entered the lab. A young man with brown hair came out of a room on Ryan's right, holding a small, red device.  
  
"Hello, what can I do for you?" he questioned.  
  
"I'm just starting off as a pokemon trainer. I was wondering if I could get a pokedex." Ryan replied.  
  
"Oh, that's it? That's no problem at all. In fact, I'll let you have this one." said the man. "By the way, I'm Professor Elm." Professor Elm handed Ryan the device and he pocketed it.  
  
"Ryan. Ryan Lachlan." said the boy.  
  
"That name sounds familiar. Hmmm, oh well. Probably just one of my colleagues in school." Elm said. "Could you possibly do a favor for me?"  
  
"Sure." he agreed. "What is it?"  
  
"I need you to document any undiscovered pokemon and the lifestyles of all pokemon." Professor Elm told Ryan.  
  
"I'll do it." Ryan said. "It'll give me something to do in between gyms."  
  
"If you need to sign up for the Johto League, you can do it in the pokemon center."  
  
"Thanks Professor Elm. I won't let you down." With that, Ryan turned to leave.  
  
"Wait!" called the professor. "I need to give you something before you go." He tossed the young man a small device that looked like a watch. "It's a pokegear. It's a portable phone, radio, map, and watch, all in one. I need you to communicate with me every once in a while. If you're nowhere near a phone, just use the pokegear. And there'll be a black haired young man named Xander Richmond at the Pokemon center. He's one of my other assistants, but I forgot to give him a pokegear. I need you to give it to him while you're there." The young trainer took another pokegear from the scientist, strapped his own to his left wrist and turned around once more.  
  
"See ya later, Prof." he said, walking out the door. Ryan then found an office supplies store, where he bought a pack of pens and a couple of thick notebooks. His next stop was the pokemon center, where he successfully registered for the Johto League. He saw a black haired young man sitting on a chair, seemingly waiting for someone.  
  
"Excuse me, but are you Xander Richmond?" Ryan asked.  
  
"Yeah." the boy replied.   
  
"Proffesor Elm told me to give this to you." He pulled out the extra pokegear and handed it to Xander.  
  
"Are you working for Elm?" he queried.  
  
"Yeah, I'm his newest assistant." Ryan responded.   
  
"I saw you register for the Pokemon League. Mind if I join you?"  
  
"Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt to have someone else around to talk to."  
  
"Who else do you talk to?" Xander questioned.  
  
"My houndour." Ryan replied.  
  
"Oh. Well, as soon as I get Cyndaquil back, we can go." The wait wasn't long, and the duo left, along with their new friend Xander and his squirtle.  
  
He was just on his way out of New Bark Town when an Officer Jenny stopped him, grabbing by the shoulder and shocking him.  
  
"Excuse me." she said. "Have you seen this boy?" He spun around to find himself face to face with the same picture of him as a Team Rocket member.  
  
"No, I'm sorry, but I haven't seen him." Ryan said, then thought. "Thank goodness for puberty."  
  
"Well, if you ever see him, give the police a call." she said. "He was reported missing a few days ago in Viridian City. We'd like to find him before Team Rocket does, to prevent any problems"  
  
"I'll be sure to if I see him. Good luck, Officer." he said, turning back towards the path ahead.   
  
"I heard about that kid." said Xander. "People say that he was the most talented, and most successful member of Team Rocket. Kind of a waste of talent."  
  
"Yeah, I know." Ryan said, thinking curses to Xander.  
  
"Before we head out on the road, I need to get one of my friends. She said I wasn't going anywhere unless she came along."  
  
"Right. Well, I'll just grab a snack at the gas station and meet you at the edge of town."  
  
"Okay." he said, running off. "See ya later.  
  
Ryan was about to leave when he saw Xander and his girlfriend come over the hill. Xander nearly lost his balance coming down, and tripped on a rock as he neared the bottom. The girl helped him up, and both walked over to the former Team Rocket member.  
  
"Ryan, this is Camry, my friend." Xander said.  
  
"Nice to meet you!" she chimed.  
  
"You too." Ryan said.  
  
"I heard you have a houndour and an eevee. Those pokemon are really rare. You must be sooo lucky to have them!" Camry cried.  
  
"Yeah, I was, err, brought up in a well to do family." he said, then thought. "Called Team Rocket."  
  
The group of six started on their pokemon journey, heading for adventures, discoveries, new pokemon, and the Pokemon League.  
  
  
End of Interlude 


	5. Goodbyes and New Beginnings

Pokemon Legend  
Part III  
Goodbyes and New Beginnings  
  
Sam was back at the hotel, along with Xander, Camry, and their newfound friends, Ash, Misty, and Brock.  
  
"Where is he?" Sam growled, still struggling to hold on to the totodile that would be Ryan's birthday present.   
  
"Toto!" it cried.  
  
Back in the pokemon center, Ryan had finished telling his story. Unfortunately, there was nothing that either of them could do to help him.  
  
"Well, it's after twelve. I think maybe you should get back to your room and get some rest." said Nurse Joy.  
  
"Thanks for everything, Nurse Joy. I'd say goodbye, but I'll probably see you again soon. After the Elite Four, my friends and I are going to take on Kanto." Ryan said. "I'll stop by your center for sure, and maybe even pay a visit to Team Rocket headquarters."  
  
"That could be dangerous." she told him.  
  
"I know. But I'm going to have to face him sooner or later. Don't tell anyone about the identity of the leader of Team Rocket. If anyone from Team Rocket found out that you were the one who gave the police information, you'd be in a lot of trouble. It's better if only one of us gets hurt."  
  
"I understand." she said. "Good luck. And happy birthday."  
  
"Thanks, Joy. Jolteon, Eve, return." Ryan returned his two eevees to their pokeballs and walked out of the room, Houndoom following behind. They walked back to their hotel room, ready for a six hour sleep. They were surprised when they found all of their friends sitting inside, waiting for them.  
  
"Happy birthday!" they all cried.  
  
"Nice surprise." Ryan yawned.   
  
"Oh. Wait, that's right. I forgot, we do the same thing every year." said Xander. Sam shook her head.  
  
"Well, I'm sure you'll get a surprise out of this." Sam said, grabbing the totodile from the bathroom.  
  
"Wow. You found a totodile. Those things are hard to find. It's pretty big, too." Ryan commented.  
  
"And he's yours." Camry added. A small smile came to Ryan's lips.  
  
"Did he just smile?" asked Xander.  
  
"Apparently so." said Sam. "Here, take him before he bites my hand off." Ryan took the crocodilian pokemon from his friend, sure to hold his jaws closed with one hand. The totodile stopped struggling, and Ryan let go. Sam got a puzzled look on her face. Ryan pulled a his lureball out of his pocket and the totodile touched it. He came back out almost instantly, crying happily. Ryan sat down on his bed and Totodile curled up on his lap, falling asleep almost instantly.  
  
"How did you do that?" asked Misty. "That totodile looked ready to take a bite out of Sam's arm."  
  
"Pokemon can understand people, or did you forget?" he answered. "Totodile probably heard you guys talking about how he was going to be given to me, and decided that since none of you was his trainer, he'd make a nuisance of himself until I got here."  
  
"Sounds like a good explanation to me." said Brock.  
  
"Brat." Sam stated.  
  
"Well, I say we all follow Toto's example and go to sleep. The five of you are welcome to stay with us, although, you'll have to sleep on the floor." Ryan offered.  
  
"Well, carpet is probably softer than ground." Misty said.  
  
"Come with us, Misty." said Camry. "We have our own room next door." The girls left for their own room, and the guys went to bed themselves.  
  
"Aren't' you going to sleep in that bed there?" Ash asked Ryan.  
  
"Nah. I prefer to sleep on couches. It's yours if you want. Unless Brock wants it. In that case, you'll have to fight for it." he replied.  
  
"No thanks. I'm comfortable on the floor." the spiky haired trainer said, zipping up his sleeping bag.  
  
"All right! I get the bed!" Ash cried.  
  
"Pi pikachu!" his pokemon companion shouted.  
  
"Just go to bed." Xander growled, pulling the covers of his own bed over his head.   
  
Later that morning, everyone awoke, refreshed and ready for the day ahead. Ryan and Sam got all of the pokemon they'd need for their matches, and returned the ones they wouldn't need. Ash and his friends decided to stay and watch Sam and Ryan compete against the Elite Four. Professor Elm was there as well, along with the Kimono girls from Ecruteak city, and some of the gym leaders. Among them were Jasmine and Whitney, who had small crushes on Ryan, and Clair, whom had promised she'd be there to watch him fight Lance, if he got that far. Even Nurse Joy was there to cheer him on. Sam's match was after Ryan's, so all of the pressure was on him. Not only were his friends watching, but the stadium was packed with people. He even thought he saw Jesse, James, Meowth, and the two rookies, as well as Kit, sitting in the nosebleed section. Kit was probably just there to laugh at Ryan if he lost, though. Strangely enough, Sam and Ryan were the only two trainers to make it to the Elite Four.  
  
'And the first match of the day takes place between Ryan and Prima. Ryan hasn't lost a single League match, and won each of the eight badges on the first try." said the announcer. "Let's see who they'll use first."  
  
"Cloyster, go." Prima said calmly, tossing a pokeball into the arena.  
  
"Let's do it, Jolteon." Ryan, said, throwing his own pokeball. "Jolteon, start things off with sunny day." The electric pokemon did as commanded, and the sun seemed to get brighter and hotter.  
  
"Oh, it seems that Jolteon's sunny day technique is making Cloyster a little weak. It doesn't look like it can stand the heat." cried the announcer.  
  
"Jolteon, use thunder wave and thunder bolt." Ryan ordered, Jolteon blasted the shelled pokemon with an incredible thunder wave, paralyzing it. After that, the thunder bolt was enough to knock it out.  
  
"Cloyster, return." said Prima. "Go Lapras." The pokemon appeared in the large pool of water, awaiting its command.  
  
"Hmm, a thunder bolt won't take that out, and thunder won't work very well now." Ryan thought. "Jolteon, use shadow ball!" Jolteon spat out a ball of dark purple energy, engulfing Lapras and forcing it to dive under the water. "Now use thunder bolt!" The water was electrified, and Prima was forced to return Lapras to its pokeball, replacing it with a jynx. Ryan recalled Jolteon and sent out Houndoom, the sun still shining.  
  
"Jynx, future sight." Prima commanded.   
  
"Good move, Prima. But you forgot about Jolteon's first move, which is still in effect. Houndoom, use fire spin." Houndoom did as told, and a blazing hot twister of flame was sent Jynx's way. It was fried almost immediately, and Prima sent out her fourth pokemon, a dewgong.  
  
"Now what are you going to do?" asked the Elite trainer.  
  
"This. Houndoom, let's take away Prima's advantage. Use sludge bomb on the water a few times." The canine pokemon spat the toxic goop into the pool, further preventing any swimming pokemon from standing a chance against Ryan.  
  
"A strategic move. Dewgong, use aurora beam." the aquatic pokemon shot a colorful beam from its horn, narrowly missing Houndoom.  
  
"Houndoom, hit it with your best fire blast." Ryan ordered.  
  
"Aah!" Prima cried, returning Dewgong. "Go Slowbro!"  
  
"Ha! A water psychic type, eh? Houndoom, quickly, while the sun is still bright, use solar beam!"  
  
"An amazing feat by Ryan, he has apparently taught his houndoom the most powerful grass move known. He is sure to beat Prima's slowbro with this attack!" shouted the announcer. Houndoom charged up and released the bright beam before the slow moving pokemon could even react.  
  
"Impressive." said the Elite. "Go Gyarados!"  
  
"Houndoom, return. Now it's your turn, Gyarados!"  
  
"And both competitors are using a gyarados. Ryan still has three other pokemon, while Prima is down to her last." the announcer stated.  
  
"Let's pull out all of the stops Gyarados. Use your secret weapon. Thunder bolt now!" Ryan shouted. Prima's gyarados never knew what hit it, as a surge of electrical energy slammed into it. It fell into the pool, damaging it even more. The whole stadium went silent, then burst into cheers, whistles, and cries of glory. Both trainers recalled their pokemon, then went to shake hands.  
  
"I must admit, you are the best trainer I've fought in a while. I didn't even stand a chance." Prima said.  
  
"That's because I didn't want to take any chances." Ryan answered. "I don't think I'll have a problem with Bruno either, though. Most of my pokemon have shadow ball, and Girafarig will do pretty good with his psychic attacks."  
  
"Good luck, young man." she said, shaking his hand. Both trainers parted ways, and Ryan's admirers and fans followed him to the pokemon center. Prima was there as well, getting ready for Sam.   
  
Sam won her match against Prima, because of Chinchou, Jigglypuff, and Charizard, and Ryan had beaten Bruno and Agatha with ease. Sam was now about to face Bruno.  
  
"And now for the fight between Sam and Bruno. Let's see if she'll have the same luck as her friend, Ryan." said the announcer, a different one than before.  
  
"Go, Jigglypuff!" Sam cried. Bruno let out his Hitmonchan, and the battle began.  
  
"Hitmonchan, mach punch!" Bruno ordered.  
  
"Oh no!" Sam cried. "Jigglypuff, sing!" It was too late. The small, pink pokemon was caught in the flurry of blazing punches, and was down for the count. "Jigglypuff... No... Go Charizard!" The huge, flying pokemon charged at the fighting type, grabbing it, then slamming it into the ground. Not even Bruno's hitmonchan could have withstood that seismic toss.  
  
"Hitmonchan, return. Go Hitmonlee." Bruno said, his next pokemon appearing in the field.   
  
"Charizard, use fire spin, then steel wing!" the girl demanded. Charizard blasted Hitmonlee with the flaming tornado, then slammed into it using his wings as deadly weapons. Sam now had beaten two of Bruno's pokemon. But his next pokemon was an onix. "Oh no. Charizard, return. Go Marril!" The round water type appeared where Charizard had been, and started spraying water at the huge serpentine pokemon.  
  
"Onix, bind it!" commanded the Elite Four member. Onix wrapped its tail around the small marill, and began to squeeze it tightly. Marril was still spraying water though, and both pokemon went down at the same time. Sam's next pokemon was Diglett, while Bruno sent out another onix.  
  
"Diglett, dig!" Sam said.  
  
"Onix, use earthquake." Bruno ordered. Before the tiny pokemon could do anything, it was shaken up by the small earthquake that the onix produced.  
  
"Diglett, return! Go Lickitung!" Sam's second pink pokemon appeared on the field, and began to slap Onix around with its tongue. It wasn't effective, and Sam had Lickitung use surf instead. The second onix crashed to the ground, signaling the coming of Bruno's fifth pokemon.  
  
"Go Hitmontop!" he shouted. The small fighting type spun around on its head, kicking Lickitung repeatedly. The pink creature tried to stick its tongue out, but kept getting a foot in the face by Hitmontop. Sam's lickitung fell quickly, and she sent out her last hope, her persian.  
  
"Persian, use thunder bolt!" Sam cried. The feline pokemon unleashed the surge of energy, completely taking both Bruno and Hitmontop by surprise.  
  
"An impressive move. Go Machamp!" Bruno's last pokemon was the four armed menace, Machamp.  
  
"Persian, fire blast and rage!" Sam shouted. Persian spat a ball of fire, which knocked the huge fighter over, then pounced on it and started slashing away at it.  
  
"Machamp, use the last resort maneuver." Bruno said. "Vital throw and cross chop." The muscular pokemon grabbed a hold of Persian's paw and slammed it to the ground. Then, using all four of its powerful arms, did an amazing cross chop attack. Persian was out cold, and Sam had lost to Bruno. She returned the cat to its pokeball, then walked over to where her friends were.  
  
"That was a great try." said Ryan. Bruno came up to her and offered his hand.  
  
"You fought well. I'm sure if you had one more flying type, you would have won." Bruno said.  
  
"Thanks. It was great getting to meet and battle you." she said, shaking his hand.  
  
"Ryan, it is now time for you to face Lance. Only your friends, gym leaders, and other Elite members will be watching. There might be a camera or two, though." Bruno told Ryan.  
  
"The moment of truth. Will I rise to victory, or have it all crumble beneath my feet?" he said.  
  
"You can only try." said Sam. "We'll be there to root for you."  
  
Meanwhile, Giovanni sat in his hotel room, watching everything that happened through a camera that Meowth was wearing.  
  
"It's been so long, Ryan Lachlan. I will have you back in Team Rocket yet." he said, then laughed a long, sinister laugh.  
  
Lance and Ryan were both on the field, and Lance threw out his first pokemon, his gyarados. Ryan sent out Jolteon, and the battle began.  
  
"Jolteon, use thunder!" Ryan shouted. A large bolt of lightning struck Lance's gyarados, and it looked as though it was going down. But it struck back at Jolteon, knocking him back several feet. Jolteon quickly got up, ready for more. His fur began to crackle with electricity, and he spat a large ball of it from his mouth, knocking Lance's gyarados out.  
  
"Ahh, zap cannon. A powerful move. Return Gyarados. Go Dragonair!" The long, draconic creature cried, then let lose with its own electrical storm. But Jolteon was too powerful to be hurt by a minor electrical attack. The dragonair had just charged him up. That pokemon soon fell, and Lance sent out his next, a charizard.  
  
"Uh oh." growled Ryan. "Jolteon, use shadow ball." The flying dragon was too quick for the ghost move to hit it, and it delivered a fire punch to Jolteon's side. Charizard hit it with a flamethrower, and Ryan returned him.  
  
"Nice try." said Lance. Ryan sent out Gyarados next, in hopes that he might take out Lance's charizard. Unfortunately, lance's charizard knew hyper beam, and Gyarados slammed into the wall, shrieking in pain.  
  
"Return. Let's do it, Girafarig!" Ryan called, sending out the two headed pokemon. "Start things off with a psychic attack!" Girafarig's front half concentrated, and Charizard was lifted off of the ground. It slammed into the ground a few times, then Girafarig threw it into the wall, where Gyarados had fallen. lance returned it and sent out another dragonair. That one grabbed the psychic pokemon with its tail, while hitting it with lightning bolts.  
  
"It seems we're tied so far." Lance said.  
  
"Not for long." Ryan stated. "Girafarig, return. Go Skarmory." the steel bird pokemon popped out of his ball, soaring in circles over Dragonair.  
  
"Dragonair, show him what dragons are made of." Lance told his pokemon. "Use dragon breath." The dragon pokemon spat a stream of blue flame, searing Skarmory and sending him plummeting to the ground.  
  
"Go, Totodile! Give that dragon an ice beam!" Ryan commanded, releasing his fifth pokemon. The totodile blew a light blue beam at the dragon pokemon, freezing it solid.  
  
"Incredible. A totodile took out my dragonir." Lance commented. "Now it's time to stop playing around. Go Kingdra!" The water dragon appeared, ready for battle.  
  
"Totodile, crunch it!" the younger trainer commanded. The reptilian pokemon bit into Kingdra, piercing its armor and making it flail about madly. Totodile was thrown into a wall at a high speed, rendering it unconscious.  
  
"That's it. I've gotten this far, and I'm not going to lose to you." Ryan stated. "Houndoom, you can do it! finish off Lance and bring us all victory!"  
  
"Doom!" Houndoom barked fiercely. He hopped onto the field and immediately took out the damaged kingdra with a well place hyper beam.  
  
"So it's a one on one now, is it?" asked Lance. "I always save my best pokemon for last. Go, Dragonite!" The large dragon pokemon appeared in front of Lance, and Ryan was sure Houndoom was in for the fight of his life. "Dragonite, use outrage!" Dragonite began to bash everything furiously, trying to get at Houndoom. Houndoom quickly ran out of rocks to hide behind, and found himself spitting sludge bombs, shadow balls, and fire blasts, all while trying not to get hit by the larger pokemon. In its frustration, Dragonite missed an easy shot on his opponent, allowing the canine pokemon to climb on top of him. Houndoom started to claw and bite Dragonite, attempting to damage it as much as possible before it regained its senses.  
  
"Houndoom, get off of dragonite and use a solar beam!" Ryan ordered. Realizing that Dragonite's confusion was the perfect time to charge up a solar beam, Houndoom jumped off and began charging up. Dragonite came to just in time to see a bright beam of light fly his way. The solar beam landed square in Dragonite's chest, blowing back and onto its back.  
  
"Dragonite, let's end this." said Lance. "Hit it with your best hyper beam, then give it a full force dragon rage seismic toss." The large pokemon sprang up, a calm look on its face, then suddenly shot a bolt of energy at Houndoom. Being a little tired from the solar beam, Houndoom took the full impact of the hyper beam. Before he knew it, Dragonite had him in its arms, and they were spinning around in the air. Dragonite tossed him to the ground, sending a large ball of blue fire after him. The canine pokemon crashed into the ground, and was washed over by the dragon fire.  
  
"Houndoom, no! You have to get up! We are so close to winning." Ryan cried. "Just look at that dragonite. Houndoom attempted to stand, but fell half way. He was too weak, and couldn't dodge anymore attacks. But he still had one move left. Ryan remembered this and figured it was his last hope. "Houndoom, beat up attack, now!" Ryan's pokeballs started to emit an eerie glow, and transparent figures appeared from them. These figures were the spirits of Ryan's pokemon. Houndoom had summoned them to execute the most powerful dark type move, beat up. Both lance and Dragonite were shocked, as the spirits of the five beaten pokemon rushed at Dragonite. Although they were dealing him massive amounts of damage, Dragonite found that he could not hit these pokemon. He felt himself getting weak, and Lance thought that Ryan might win, but the spirits disappeared suddenly. Houndoom's power was completely spent, but Dragonite was breathing heavily, and sat down on the ground.  
  
"That was an incredible attack, Ryan, but your houndoom is exhausted. Although weak, Dragonite can still fight." said the Elite. PWill you have mercy on your friend and concede, or will you allow him to be injured further?"  
  
"I should have used Houndoom first. That way, I might have had a few more pokemon to use on Dragonite. But, I can't change the past." Ryan sighed, walking out onto the field. "Yes, Lance, I concede." Ryan picked up Houndoom in his arms, and proceeded to walk to the nearest pokemon center. Nurse Joy came along, because she said that she was working at that center, and Lance went as well.  
  
"I am impressed by your skills as a trainer, as well as your determination and love for your pokemon. It's not a trophy, but you deserve it." Lance said, placing something small and purple in the trainer's hands. Ryan gasped as he looked at the object closer.  
  
"A master ball! But these are so expensive!" Ryan gasped.  
  
"I know. I give them only to trainers who make it to me, which is very, very few. I give them one whether they win or lose, just because they made it so far." the Elite member explained.  
  
"Thanks a lot, Lance. It was an honor to battle with you, and I look forward to it next year." the pokemon trainer said.  
  
"Ha. I look forward to it as well. In fact, why don't you stay here and train with me and the rest of the Elite Four?" Lance asked. "We can teach each other."  
  
"Well, I kind of had plans to go to Kanto with my friends, but I'd be glad to train with you." he replied.  
  
After Houndoom and the rest of Ryan's pokemon were in perfect condition, he went back to his hotel, where all of his friends and greatest admirers were waiting for him.  
  
"Better luck next year." said Clair. "But keep up the good work. Even if you're not a pokemon master, you're still Professor Elm's greatest assistant."  
  
"That's right." agreed the Prof.  
  
"We'll all be here to cheer you on next year." said nurse Joy.  
  
"And I'll be waiting for that rematch. In fact, if you prove yourself during your training, we'll let you challenge us before the next League competition." said Lance.  
  
"What does he mean, Rai-chan?" queried Sam. Everyone went silent.  
  
"Well, I agreed to stay at Indigo Plateau to train with the Elite Four." Ryan responded.  
  
"But I thought we were all going to go to Kanto together." Sam said.  
  
"Not all of us." piped Camry. "Xander and I were thinking of going off on our own."  
  
"Wow, it looks like you're all alone." said Kit. "I'll go with you!"  
  
"Yeah, well, my brother and I were getting kind of bored traveling by ourselves, so count us in!" said Gord.  
  
"Yeah!" cried Chris, Gord's brother.   
  
Just then, a crash was heard by all, and a net dropped on everyone except Ryan and Houndoom. The net pulled them through the roof, and Jesse and James dropped through, both wearing ridiculous looking sailor girl uniforms.  
  
"Ha ha." laughed James. "If you can't beat em, separate em and beat the leader."  
  
"James, James, James." Ryan sighed. "After all this time, you sill haven't given up that habit of yours."  
  
"What are you talking about, pretty boy?" growled Jesse. "How could you possibly know about his past?"  
  
"Simple." said the trainer. "I taught both of you the art of disguise. And I thought the three of you would've remembered me the first time you tried to steal Houndoom."  
  
"Ryan?" gasped James. "But it can't be. You went missing years ago."   
  
"Yeah. I was tired of being team Rocket's workhorse, so I left and started over in Johto. I got an honest job, and started my pokemon journey." Ryan explained. Jesse gasped once more.  
  
"We'll definitely get a promotion if we turn you in to the boss." she said.  
  
"Not going to happen. When I face Giovanni, it'll either be when I'm ready. If you try anything now, Houndoom is going to blast you." the brown haired boy growled. "Oh, wait. you already did. Totodile, Larvitar, go. You three teach these two a lesson. I'm going to rescue our friends. By the way, where did Danny and Chris go?"  
  
"Oh. The boss sent them to another country for training, or something like that." replied Jesse.  
  
"Oh. Okay, then, have fun." Ryan ran outside and climbed up a fire escape ladder.   
  
At the top of the building, Ryan found Meowth in his hot air balloon. Everyone in the net was struggling to get out, tangling them further.  
  
"Ahh, Meowth. Long time no see." he said.  
  
"Uh oh. What happened to Jesse and James?" the feline pokemon cried.  
  
"A few of my pokemon are playing with them." At that, Jesse and James flew through the roof, landing in the basket with Meowth. Larvitar and Totodile came through the hole, thrown up by Houndoom. Ryan's partner appeared a moment later.  
  
"Forget them, Meowth." cried James. "We have to go! Now!" Houndoom bit the rope attaching the net to the basket, and the three Team Rocket lackeys lifted up into the air.  
  
"Houndoom, use fire blast." Houndoom hurled the ball of fire at the basket, igniting the gas within. It exploded, sending the three off into the distance. By the time they vanished from view, Ryan's pokemon had torn the net apart, freeing everyone.  
  
"Wow. He rescued us all." said an amazed Kit.  
  
"Forget all of those cute pop singer guys. Ryan is number one on our list now!" exclaimed one of the Kimono Girls. The rest of the teenage girls on the roof voiced their agreement.  
  
'Why can't I have that kind of luck?" whined Brock.  
  
"Maybe you try too hard." said Ryan. "I don't try at all."  
  
After everyone was inside, they all filed into the restaurant, where Lance and Sam unveiled a huge birthday cake, easily able to serve everyone in the room.  
  
"I don't think we can finish this whole cake tonight." commented Chris, Gord's brother.  
  
"Oh well, I can always eat it for breakfast, and share it with the Elite Four." said Ryan.  
  
"Oh, that's right. You're staying here." Sam said, her face looking depressed. "I just met you, and now I have to go on without you." Ryan began to think about his decision. He would miss being with his friend, but he had to train, so that he could beat Lance the next time around. He had to do it for himself, his fans, and most importantly, his pokemon.  
  
"You can always visit." he offered. "We can go on our journey through Kanto another time. I have to do this. It's my greatest dream, and my pokemon's as well."  
  
"I understand." she sobbed. "I've always got Kit, Chris, and Gord. And I'll always know where to find you."   
  
"Look, let's worry about goodbyes tomorrow." said Lance. 'It is, after all, Ryan's birthday."  
  
Everyone celebrated for the rest of the night, and everyone left late, leaving Xander, Camry, Sam, and Ryan with one final sleep together before they parted ways.  
  
Ryan woke up refreshed and ready to take on any challenge, despite yesterday's tiring events. He packed his bag with everything he needed; Lance had already taken the remainder of his birthday cake to the large mansion where the Elite Four lived. He and Houndoom walked out of the door to their temporary room to find Xander, Camry, Sam, and their pokemon companions standing there, waiting for him. They walked to the lobby to find Lance waiting with his charizard, and Kit, Chris, and Gord waiting for Sam. The four trainers checked out, then went outside to say their goodbyes.  
  
"Well, we're heading off to be together." said Xander. "I don't know if we'll ever see each other again, but it was great traveling around Johto with you."  
  
"Yeah." agreed Camry. "Thank you. For your friendship, for your caring, and for all of those times you've come through for us."  
  
"And the same goes out to all three of you." Ran said.  
  
"And I guess this is goodbye for the two of us as well." Sam said softly. "Rai-kun, I'll miss you." Sam hugged him then, and although he had learned to live without love, Ryan returned it with all of the compassion he had. Even in the short time he had known her, Sam had turned out to be a great friend, like the sister he never had.  
  
"I'll miss you too. But don't worry, we'll meet again some day." The two let go, and all went their respective way.   
  
From on top of the hill where the Elite mansion stood, Ryan could see Sam and her new friends heading east for Kanto, and Xander and Camry heading west back to New Bark Town. Ryan would remember this day, and wait for the day when he was reunited with his friends.  
  
"Come on, Ryan. It is time for you to begin your training." said Lance.  
  
"Let's go Houndoom. We've started another new chapter in our lives, and this time, I'm gonna make sure it has a happy ending."  
  
"Doom."  
End of Chapter 1  
  



End file.
